A  DAY  IN  OLD  ATHENS 


A  PICTURE  OF  ATHENIAN   LIFE 


BY 

WILLIAM   STEARNS   DAVIS 

PBOFE88OE    OP    ANCIENT    HISTORY    IN    THB 
UNIVBK8ITY   OF   MINNESOTA 


ALLYN    AND    BACON 

1S02t0n  Ncfo  Iforfc  Cfjicap 


COPYRIGHT,  1914,  BY 
WILLIAM  STEARNS  DAVIS. 


NortnooD  tyitw 

J.  8.  Cnshinf  Co.  —  Berwick  <k  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


STACK 

ANNEX 

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PREFACE. 

THIS  little  book  tries  to  describe  what  an  intelligent 
person  would  see  and  hear  in  ancient  Athens,  if  by  some 
legerdemain  he  were  translated  to  the  fourth  century  B.C. 
and  conducted  about  the  city  under  competent  guidance. 
Rare  happenings  have  been  omitted  and  sometimes,  to 
avoid  long  explanations,  probable  matters  have  been  stated 
as  if  they  were  ascertained  facts;  but  these  instances  are 
few,  and  it  is  hoped  no  reader  will  be  led  into  serious  error. 

The  year  360  B.C.  has  been  selected  for  the  hypothetical 
time  of  this  visit,  not  because  of  any  special  virtue  in  that 
date,  but  because  Athens  was  then  architecturally  almost 
perfect,  her  civic  and  her  social  life  seemed  at  their  best, 
the  democratic  constitution  held  its  vigor,  and  there  were 
few  outward  signs  of  the  general  decadence  which  was  to 
set  in  after  the  triumph  of  Macedon. 

I  have  endeavored  to  state  no  facts  and  to  make  no  allu- 
sions, that  will  not  be  fairly  obvious  to  a  reader  who  has 
merely  an  elementary  knowledge  of  Greek  annals,  such 
information,  for  instance,  as  may  be  gained  through  a  good 
secondary  school  history  of  ancient  times.  This  naturally 
has  led  to  comments  and  descriptions  which  more  advanced 
students  may  find  superfluous. 

The  writer  has  been  under  a  heavy  debt  to  the  numerous 
and  excellent  works  on  Greek  "  Private  Antiquities  "  and 
"Public  Life"  written  in  English,  French,  or  German,  as 
well  as  to  the  various  great  Classical  Encyclopaedias  and 
Dictionaries,  and  to  many  treatises  and  monographs  upon 
the  topography  of  Athens  and  upon  the  numerous  phases 
ill 


iv  Preface 


of  Attic  culture.  It  is  proper  to  say,  however,  that  the 
material  from  such  secondary  sources  has  been  merely  sup- 
plementary to  a  careful  examination  of  the  ancient  Greek 
writers,  with  the  objects  of  this  book  kept  especially  in 
view.  A  sojourn  in  modern  Athens,  also,  has  given  me  an 
impression  of  the  influence  of  the  Attic  landscape  upon  the 
conditions  of  old  Athenian  life,  an  impression  that  I  have 
tried  to  convey  in  this  small  volume. 

I  am  deeply  grateful  to  my  sister,  Mrs.  Fannie  Davis 
Gifford,  for  helpful  criticism  of  this  book  while  in  manu- 
script ;  to  my  wife,  for  preparing  the  drawings  from  Greek 
vase-paintings  which  appear  as  illustrations ;  and  to  my 
friend  and  colleague,  Professor  Charles  A.  Savage,  for  a 
kind  and  careful  reading  of  the  proofs.  Thanks  also  are 
due  to  Henry  Holt  and  Company  for  permission  to  quote 
material  from  their  edition  of  Von  Falke's  "  Greece  and 
Borne." 

W.  S.  D. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MINNESOTA, 

MINNEAPOLIS,  MINNESOTA. 

May,  1914. 


CONTENTS. 


PAS* 

MAPS,  PLANS,  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS xii 

Chapter  I.    The  Physical  Setting  of  Athens. 

SECTION 

1.  The  Importance  of  Athens  in  Greek  History    .    '  .;...    .    ,,       ,  >$ 

2.  Why  the  Social  Life  of  Athens  is  so  Significant      .        .        .  1 

3.  The  Small  Size  and  Sterility  of  Attica    .        ,        •  •••;•      •  2 

4.  The  Physical  Beauty  of  Attica 4 

6.  The  Mountains  of  Attica          .        .        .      ?  .    ,.    .        .         .  4 

6.  The  Sunlight  in  Attica     ........        6 

7.  The  Topography  of  the  City  of  Athens     .   .     .        ..      »•..     .        6 

8.  360  B.C.  — The  Year  of  the  Visit  to  Athens       .        .        .        .     ..• 

Chapter  II.    The  First  Sights  in  Athens. 

9.  The  Morning  Crowds  bound  for  Athens  .....        9 

10.  The  Gate  and  the  Street  Scenes       .        .    '     . "  '   .  "    .'      .      10 

11.  The  Streets  and  House  Fronts  of  Athens         ....      12 

12.  The  Simplicity  of  Athenian  Life      .        .        .        .        .        .14 

Chapter  III.    The  Agora  and  its  Denizens. 

13.  The  Buildings  around  the  Agora 16 

14.  The  Life  in  the  Agora 18 

15.  The  Booths  and  Shops  in  the  Agora 18 

16.  The  Flower  and  the  Fish  Venders   .        ....         .20 

17.  The  Morning  Visitors  to  the  Agora          .        .        .        .        .21 

18.  The  Leisured  Class  in  Athens          .         .        .        ,        .        .22 

19.  Familiar  Types  around  the  Agora 23 

20.  The  Barber  Shops 24 

Chapter  IV.    The  Athenian  House  and  its  Furnishings. 

21.  Following  an  Athenian  Gentleman  Homeward        ...      26 

22.  The  Type  and  Uses  of  a  Greek  House     .       ,-.       .  ,        .        .27 


vi  Contents 


BBOTION  PAGB 

23.  The  Plan  of  a  Greek  House 28 

24.  Modifications  in  the  Typical  Plan 31 

25.  Rents  and  House  Values 32 

26.  The  Simple  yet  Elegant  Furnishings  of  an  Athenian  House    .  32 

Chapter  V.    The  Women  of  Athens. 

27.  How  Athenian  Marriages  are  Arranged 35 

28.  Lack  of  Sentiment  in  Marriages 36 

29.  Athenian  Marriage  Rites 37 

30.  The  Mental  Horizon  of  Athenian  Women        ....  38 

31.  The  Honor  paid  Womanhood  in  Athens          ....  39 

32.  The  Sphere  of  Action  of  Athenian  Women      ....  40 

Chapter  VI.    Athenian  Costume. 

33.  The  General  Nature  of  Greek  Dress 43 

34.  The  Masculine  Chiton,  Himation,  and  Chlamys     ...  44 
36.  The  Dress  of  the  Women 46 

36.  Footwear  and  Head  Coverings 47 

37.  The  Beauty  of  the  Greek  Dress 48 

38.  Greek  Toilet  Frivolities 49 

Chapter  VII.    The  Slaves. 

39.  Slavery  an  Integral  Part  of  Greek  Life 51 

40.  The  Slave  Trade  in  Greece 62 

41.  The  Treatment  of  Slaves  in  Athens 64 

42.  Cruel  and  Kind  Masters 55 

43.  The  "  City  Slaves  "  of  Athens 66 

Chapter  VIII.    The  Children. 

44.  The  Desirability  of  Children  in  Athens 57 

46.  The  Exposure  of  Infants 67 

46.  The  Celebration  of  a  Birth 69 

47.  Life  and  Games  of  Young  Children 69 

48.  Playing  in  the  Streets 60 

49.  The  First  Stories  and  Lessons          .         ...        .         .61 

60.  The  Training  of  Athenian  Girls 62 


Contents  vii 


Chapter  IX.    The  Schoolboys  of  Athens. 

SECTION 

PACK 

61.   The  Athenians  Generally  Literate    

.      63 

62.   Character  Building  the  Aim  of  Athenian  Education 

.       63 

64 

54.   An  Athenian  School        

.      65 

55.   The  School  Curriculum   .       •»        k        .        .        .      ;', 

.      66 

56.   The  Study  of  the  Poets   .        . 

.      68 

67.   The  Greeks  do  not  study  Foreign  Languages  .         .       .» 

.      70 

68.   The  Study  of  "  Music  "           „ 

.      70 

59.   The  Moral  Character  of  Greek  Music      .... 

.      72 

60.    The  Teaching  of  Gymnastics  .         .         .        .     '  ,      '  « 

.      73 

61.   The  Habits  and  Ambitions  of  Schoolboys 

.      74 

62.   The  "Ephebi"        .  k 

.      75 

Chapter  X.    The  Physicians  of  Athens. 

63.    The  Beginnings  of  Greek  Medical  Science 

.      77 

64.    Healing  Shrines  and  their  Methods          .... 

.      78 

65.    An  Athenian  Physician's  Office       

.      79 

66.   The  Physician's  Oath      

.      80 

67.  The  Skill  of  Greek  Physicians         

.      81 

68.    Quacks  and  Charlatans    .                 .        .      ...        .        . 

.      82 

Chapter  XI.    The  Funerals. 

69.    An  Athenian's  Will          

84 

70.   The  Preliminaries  of  a  Funeral        

.      84 

71.    Lamenting  the  Dead        

.      86 

72.   The  Funeral  Procession  

.      86 

73.    The  Funeral  Pyre    .        .        . 

.      87 

74.    Honors  to  the  Memory  of  the  Dead         .... 

.      88 

75.  The  Beautiful  Funeral  Monuments  

.      89 

Chapter  XII.    Trade,  Manufactures,  and  Banking. 

76.   The  Commercial  Importance  of  Athens  .... 

.      91 

77.   The  Manufacturing  Activities  of  Athens  .... 

.      91 

78.    The  Commerce  of  Athens        

.      93 

79.    The  Adventurous  Merchant  Skippers       .... 

.      95 

80.   Athenian  Money-changers  and  Bankers  .... 

.      96 

81.   A  Large  Banking  Establishment     

.      96 

viii  Contents 


SECTION  PAOB 

82.  Drawbacks  to  the  Banking  Business      .        .        .        .        .97 

83.  The  Pottery  of  Athens 98 

84.  Athenian  Pottery  an  Expression  of  the  Greek  Sense  of  Beauty      99 


Chapter  XIII.    The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens. 

85.  Military  Life  at  Athens 101 

86.  The  Organization  of  the  Athenian  Army        .         .         .         .102 

87.  The  Hoplites  and  the  Light  Troops 103 

88.  The  Cavalry  and  the  Peltasts 104 

89.  The  Panoply  of  the  Hoplites 105 

90.  The  Weapons  of  a  Hoplite 107 

91.  Infantry  Maneuvers 108 

92.  The  Preliminaries  of  a  Greek  Battle 109 

93.  Joining  the  Battle 110 

94.  The  Climax  and  End  of  the  Battle 112 

95.  The  Burial  Truce  and  the  Trophy  after  the  Battle         .        .  114 

96.  The  Siege  of  Fortified  Towns 114 

97.  The  Introduction  of  New  Tactics  .                                          .  115 


Chapter  XIV.    The  Peiraeus  and  the  Shipping. 

98.  The  "  Long  Walls  "  down  to  the  Harbor  Town     .        .        .117 

99.  Munychia  and  the  Havens  of  Athens 118 

100.  The  Glorious  View  from  the  Hill  of  Munychia       .        .        .119 

101.  The  Town  of  Peiraeus 120 

102.  The  Merchant  Shipping 122 

103.  The  Three  War  Harbors  and  the  Ship  Houses       .        .        .124 

104.  The  Great  Naval  Arsenal 125 

106.  An  Athenian  Trierarch 125 

106.  The  Evolution  of  the  Trireme 126 

107.  The  Hull  of  a  Trireme 127 

108.  The  Rowers'  Benches  of  a  Trireme 129 

109.  The  Cabins,  Rigging,  and  Ram  of  a  Trireme        .         .         .     129 

110.  The  Officers  and  Crew  of  a  Trireme      .        ....     131 

111.  A  Trireme  at  Sea  .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .132 

112.  The  Tactics  of  a  Naval  Battle        .        :        .        .        .         .     133 

113.  The  Naval  Strength  of  Athens       .        .     *  »        .        .        .134 


Contents  ix 


Chapter  XV.    An  Athenian  Court  Trial. 

SECTION  PAGE 

114.  The  Frequency  of  Litigation  in  Athens          .         .         .         .135 

115.  Prosecutions  in  Athens 136 

116.  The  Preliminaries  to  a  Trial  ....        .        .     137 

117.  The  Athenian  Jury  Courts      .         .         .        .        ,        .         .138 

118.  The  Juryman's  Oath      .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .139 

119.  Opening  the  Trial.     The  Plaintiff's  Speech  .        .        .        .     140 

120.  The  Defendant's  Speech.     Demonstrations  by  the  Jury         .     141 

121.  The  First  Verdict   .        .'"  '. 142 

122.  The  Second  and  Final  Verdict 143 

123.  The  Merits  and  Defects  of  the  Athenian  Courts      .  .144 

124.  The  Usual  Punishments  in  Athens 144 

125.  The  Heavy  Penalty  of  Exile 145 

126.  The  Death  Penalty  at  Athens 145 

Chapter  XVI.    The  Ecclesia  of  Athens. 

127.  The  Rule  of  Democracy  in  Athens 147 

128.  Aristocracy  and  Wealth.     Their  Status  and  Burdens    .         .     147 

129.  Athenian  Society  truly  Democratic  up  to  a  Certain  Point      .     148 

130.  The  Voting  Population  of  Athens 149 

131.  Meeting  Times  of  the  Ecclesia 150 

132.  The  Pnyx  (Assembly  Place)  at  Athens         .        .        .         .151 

133.  The  Preliminaries  of  the  Meeting 152 

134.  Debating  a  Proposition 154 

135.  Voting  at  the  Pnyx 155 

136.  The  Ecclesia  as  an  Educational  Instrument  .        .        .         .156 

Chapter  XVII.    The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia. 

137.  The  Gymnasia.     Places  of  General  Resort    .        .        .        .158 

138.  The  Road  to  the  Academy 158 

139.  The  Academy 159 

140.  The  Social  Atmosphere  and  Human  Types  at  the  Academy     160 

141.  Philosophers  and  Cultivated  Men  at  the  Gymnasia        .         .     161 

142.  The  Beautiful  Youths  at  the  Academy 162 

143.  The  Greek  Worship  of  Manly  Beauty 163 

144.  The  Detestation  of  Old  Age 165 

145.  The  Greeks  unite  Moral  and  Physical  Beauty        .        .         .     165 

146.  The  Usual  Gymnastic  Sports  and  their  Objects     .        .        .166 


Contents 


SECTION  PAOB 

147.  Professional  Athletes  :  the  Pancration 167 

148.  Leaping  Contests   .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .167 

149.  Quoit  Hurling        .         .        .        .        .        .        .        ...     168 

150.  Casting  the  Javelin        .        .        .        .        .        .        ,        .168 

161.  Wrestling 169 

162.  Foot  Races 170 

163.  The  Pentathlon :  the  Honors  paid  to  Great  Athletes      .        .     172 

Chapter  XVIII.    Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium. 

154.    Greek  Meal  Times 174 

166.    Society  desired  at  Meals 175 

166.  The  Staple  Articles  of  Food 176 

157.    Greek  Vintages 178 

168.   Vegetable  Dishes 179 

159.  Meat  and  Fish  Dishes 180 

160.  Inviting  Guests  to  a  Dinner  Party 181 

161.  Preparing  for  the  Dinner  :  the  Sicilian  Cook         .         .         .182 

162.  The  Coming  of  the  Guests 183 

163.  The  Dinner  Proper 184 

164.  Beginning  the  Symposium 185 

165.  The  Symposiarch  and  his  Duties 186 

166.  Conversation  at  the  Symposium 187 

167.  Games  and  Entertainments 188 

168.  Going  Home  from  the  Feast :  Midnight  Revelers         .        .     189 

Chapter  XIX.    Country  Life  around  Athens. 

169.  The  Importance  of  his  Farm  to  an  Athenian         .        .        .     191 

170.  The  Country  by  the  Ilissus :   the  Greeks  and  Natural  Beauty     191 

171.  Plato's  Description  of  the  Walk  by  the  Ilissus       .        .        .193 

172.  The  Athenian  Love  of  Country  Life 194 

173.  Some  Features  of  the  Attic  Country 195 

174.  An  Attic  Farmstead 196 

176.    Plowing,  Reaping,  and  Threshing 197 

176.  Grinding  at  the  Mill 199 

177.  The  Olive  Orchards 199 

178.  The  Vineyards       .        ........        .        .201 

179.  Cattle,  Sheep,  and  Goats 201 

180.  The  Gardens  and  the  Shrine  .    202 


Contents  xi 


Chapter  XX.    The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens. 

SECTION  PAG« 

181.  Certain  Factors  in  Athenian  Religion    .        .        .        .         .     204 

182.  What  constitutes  "  Piety "  in  Athens    .        •.        .        .         .     205 

183.  The  Average  Athenian's  Idea  of  the  Gods     .      -. '.        .        .    206 

184.  Most  Greeks  without  Belief  in  Immortality    .         .         .         .207 

185.  The  Multitude  of  Images  of  the  Gods 209 

186.  Greek  Superstition 210 

187.  Consulting  Omens          .         .         .        ....        .     210 

188.  The  Great  Oracles 211 

189.  Greek  Sacrifices V      '  .        .212 

190.  The  Route  to  the  Acropolis   .         .        ....        .     213 

191.  The  Acropolis  of  Athens        ...        .        .        .-       .     214 

192.  The  Use  of  Color  upon  Athenian  Architecture  and  Sculptures    216 

193.  The  Chief  Buildings  on  the  Acropolis    .        .        .        .         .217 

194.  The  Parthenon .        .        .218 

195.  A  Sacrifice  on  the  Acropolis 219 

196.  The  Interior  of  the  Parthenon  and  the  Great  Image  of  Athena    222 

197.  Greek  Prayers 224 


Chapter  XXI.    The  Great  Festivals  of  Athens. 

198.  The  Frequent  Festivals  in  Athens          .        ...        .        .     228 

199.  The  Eleusinia .     228 

200.  The  Holy  Procession  to  Eleusis     .         ..-*•..        .        .229 

201.  The  Mysteries  of  Eleusis        ....  :..  :,.        .        .     230 

202.  The  Greater  Dionysia  and  the  Drama 231 

203.  The  Theater  of  Dionysus 232 

204.  The  Production  of  a  Play 233 

206.  The  Great  Panathenaic  Procession 236 

206.  The  View  from  the  Temple  of  Wingless  Victory    .        .        .237 

INDEX  .    239 


MAPS,  PLANS,  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1.  Athenian  Acropolis Frontispiece 

PAGE 

2.  Sketch  Map  of  Attica 3 

3.  Sketch  Map  of  Athens 7 

4.  Peasant  going  to  Market 10 

5.  At  the  Street  Fountain 11 

6.  A  Wayside  Herm 17 

7.  A  Carpenter 19 

8.  Conjectural  Plan  for  the  House  of  a  Wealthy  Athenian           .  29 

9.  Spinning 41 

10.  The  Maternal  Slipper 60 

11.  Athenian  Funeral  Monument          ....    facing  page  88 

12.  At  the  Smithy 92 

13.  Hoplite  in  Armor 106 

14.  The  Town  of  Peiraeus  and  the  Harbors  of  Athens   .        .        .118 
16.  Fishermen 121 

16.  An  Athenian  Trireme 127 

17.  The  Race  in  Armor 171 

18.  Itinerant  Piper  with  his  Dog 196 

19.  Women  pounding  Meal 198 

20.  Gathering  the  Olive  Harvest 200 

21.  Rural  Sacrifice  to  a  Wooden  Statue  of  Dionysus     .         .         .202 

22.  Sketch  Map  of  the  Acropolis  of  Athens 214 

23.  Sacrificing  a  Pig 221 

24.  Athena  Parthenos 223 

26.  Comic  Actors  dressed  as  Ostriches          ......  233 

26.  Actor  in  Costume  as  a  Fury 234 


xii 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


A  DAY  IN  OLD  ATHENS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  PHYSICAL  SETTING  OF  ATHENS. 

1.  The  Importance  of  Athens  in  Greek  History.  —  To  three 
ancient  nations  the  men  of  the  twentieth  century  owe  an 
incalculable  debt.    To  the  Jews  we  owe  most  of  our  notions 
of  religion;   to  the  Komans  we  owe  traditions  and  exam- 
ples in  law,  administration,  and  the  general  management  of 
human  affairs  which  still  keep  their  influence  and  value ; 
and  finally,  to  the  Greeks  we  owe  nearly  all  our  ideas  as  to 
the  fundamentals  of  art,  literature,  and  philosophy,  in  fact, 
of  almost  the  whole  of  our  intellectual  life.     These  Greeks, 
however,  our  histories  promptly  teach  us,  did  not  form  a 
single  united  nation.     They  lived  in  many  "  city-states  "  of 
more  or  less  importance,  and  some  of  the  largest  of  these 
contributed  very  little  directly  to  our  civilization.     Sparta, 
for  example,  has  left  us  some  noble  lessons  in  simple  living 
and  devoted  patriotism,  but  hardly  a  single  great  poet,  and 
certainly  never  a  philosopher  or  a  sculptor.     When  we  ex- 
amine closely,  we  see  that  the  civilized  life  of  Greece,  during 
the  centuries  when  she  was  accomplishing  the  most,  was 
peculiarly  centered  at  Athens.     Without  Athens,  Greek  his- 
tory would  lose  three  quarters  of  its  significance,  and  mod- 
ern life  and  thought  would  become  infinitely  the  poorer. 

2.  Why  the  Social  Life  of  Athens  is  so  Significant.  —  Be- 
cause, then,  the  contributions  of  Athens  to  our  own  life  are 
so  important,  because  they  touch  (as  a  Greek  would  say)  upon 
almost  every  side  of  "  the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good," 

1 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


it  is  obvious  that  the  outward  conditions  under  which  this 
Athenian  genius  developed  deserve  our  respectful  atten- 
tion. For  assuredly  such  personages  as  Sophocles,  Plato, 
and  Phidias  were  not  isolated  creatures,  who  developed  their 
genius  apart  from,  or  in  spite  of,  the  life  about  them,  but 
rather  were  the  ripe  products  of  a  society,  which  in  its 
excellences  and  weaknesses  presents  some  of  the  most  inter- 
esting pictures  and  examples  in  the  world.  To  understand 
the  Athenian  civilization  and  genius  it  is  not  enough  to 
know  the  outward  history  of  the  times,  the  wars,  the  laws, 
and  the  lawmakers.  We  must  see  Athens  as  the  average 
man  saw  it  and  lived  in  it  from  day  to  day,  and  then  per- 
haps we  can  partially  understand  how  it  was  that  during 
the  brief  but  wonderful  era  of  Athenian  freedom  and  pros- 
perity,1 Athens  was  able  to  produce  so  many  men  of  com- 
manding genius  as  to  win  for  her  a  place  in  the  history  of 
civilization  which  she  can  never  lose. 

3.  The  Small  Size  and  Sterility  of  Attica.  —  Attica  was  a 
very  small  country  according  to  modern  notions,  and  Athens 
the  only  large  city  therein.  The  land  barely  covered  some 
700  square  miles,  with  40  square  miles  more,  if  one  in- 
cludes the  dependent  island  of  Salamis.  It  was  thus  far 
smaller  than  the  smallest  of  our  American  "  states  "  (Rhode 
Island  =  1250  square  miles),  and  was  not  so  large  as  many 
American  counties.  It  was  really  a  triangle  of  rocky,  hill- 
scarred  land  thrust  out  into  the  JSgean  Sea,  as  if  it  were  a 
sort  of  continuation  of  the  more  level  district  of  Bceotia. 
Yet  small  as  it  was,  the  hills  inclosing  it  to  the  west,  the 
seas  pressing  it  from  the  northeast  and  south,  gave  it  a 
unity  and  isolation  all  its  own.  Attica  was  not  an  island ; 

1  That  era  may  be  assumed  to  begin  with  the  battle  of  Marathon 
(490  B.C.),  and  it  certainly  ended  in  322  B.C.,  when  Athens  passed  deci- 
sively under  the  power  of  Macedonia ;  although  since  the  battle  of  Chae- 
roneia  (338  B.C.)  she  had  done  little  more  than  keep  her  liberty  on 
sufferance- 


The  Physical  Setting  of  Athens 


3 


but  it  could  be  invaded  only  by  sea,  or  by  forcing  the 
resistance  which  could  be  offered  at  the  steep  mountain 
passes  towards  Bceotia  or  Megara.  Attica  was  thus  dis- 
tinctly separated  from  the  rest  of  Greece.  Legends  told 
how,  when  the  half-savage  Dorians  had  forced  themselves 
southward  over  the  mainland,  they  had  never  penetrated 


into  Attica;  and  the  Athenians  later  prided  themselves 
upon  being  no  colonists  from  afar,  but  upon  being  "  earth- 
sprung,"  —  natives  of  the  soil  which  they  and  their  twenty- 
times  grandfathers  had  held  before  them. 

This  triangle  of  Attica  had  its  peculiar  shortcomings  and 
virtues.  It  was  for  the  most  part  stony  and  unfertile. 
Only  a  shallow  layer  of  good  soil  covered  a  part  of  its  hard 
foundation  rock,  which  often  in  turn  lay  bare  on  the  sur- 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


face.  The  Athenian  farmer  had  a  sturdy  struggle  to  win  a 
scanty  crop,  and  about  the  only  products  he  could  ever  raise 
in  abundance  for  export  were  olives  (which  seemed  to  thrive 
on  scanty  soil  and  scanty  rainfall)  and  honey,  the  work  of 
the  mountain  bees. 

4.  The  Physical  Beauty  of  Attica.  —  Yet  Attica  had  advan- 
tages which  more  than  counterbalanced  this  grudging  of 
fertility.     All  Greece,  to  be  sure,  was  favored  by  the  natu- 
ral beauty  of  its  atmosphere,  seas,  and  mountains,  but  Attica 
was  perhaps  the  most  favored  portion  of  all.     Around  her 
coasts,  rocky  often  and  broken  by  pebbly  beaches  and  little 
craggy  peninsulas,  surged  the  deep  blue  ^Egeau,  the  most 
glorious  expanse  of  ocean  in  the  world.     Far  away  spread  the 
azure  water,1  —  often  foam-crested  and  sometimes  alive  with 
the  dolphins  leaping  at  their  play,  —  reaching  towards  a 
shimmering   sky  line  where   rose   "the  isles   of   Greece," 
masses  of  green  foliage,  or  else  of  tawny  rock,  scattered 
afar,  to  adapt  the  words  of  Homer,  "like  shields  laid  on 
the  face  of  the  glancing  deep." 

Above  the  sea  spread  the  noble  arch  of  the  heavens,  —  the 
atmosphere  often  dazzlingly  bright,  and  carrying  its  glamour 
and  sparkle  almost  into  the  hearts  of  men.  The  Athenians 
were  proud  of  the  air  about  their  land.  Their  poets  gladly 
sung  its  praises,  as,  for  example,  Euripides,2  when  he  tells 
how  his  fellow  countrymen  enjoy  being  — 

Ever  through  air  clear  shining  brightly 
As  on  wings  uplifted,  pacing  lightly. 

5.  The  Mountains  of  Attica. — The  third  great  element, 
besides  the  sea  and  the  atmosphere  of  Athens,  was  the 
mountains.     One  after  another  the  bold  hills  reared  them- 

1  The  peculiar  blueness  of  the  water  near  Attica  is  probably  caused  by 
the  clear  rocky  bottom  of  the  sea,  as  well  as  by  the  intensity  of  the  sun- 
light. 2  Medea :  829. 


The  Physical  Setting  of  Athens  5 

selves,  cutting  short  all  the  plainlands  and  making  the 
farmsteads  often  a  matter  of  slopes  and  terraces.  Against 
the  radiant  heavens  these  mountains  stood  out  boldly, 
clearly ;  revealing  all  the  little  gashes  and  seams  left  from 
that  long-forgotten  day  when  they  were  flung  forth  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth.  None  of  these  mountains  was  very 
high:  Hymettus,  the  greatest,  was  only  about  3500  feet; 
but  rising  as  they  often  did  from  a  close  proximity  to  the 
sea,  and  not  from  a  dwarfing  table-land,  even  the  lower  hills 
uplifted  themselves  with  proud  majesty. 

These  hills  were  of  innumerable  tints  according  to  their 
rocks,  the  hue  of  the  neighboring  sea,  and  the  hour  of  the 
day.  In  spring  they  would  be  clothed  in  verdant  green, 
which  would  vanish  before  the  summer  heats,  leaving  them 
rosy  brown  or  gray.  But  whatever  the  fundamental  tone, 
it  was  always  brilliant;  for  the  Athenians  lived  in  a  land 
where  blue  sky,  blue  sea,  and  the  massive  rock  blent  to- 
gether into  such  a  galaxy  of  shifting  color,  that,  in  com- 
parison, the  lighting  of  almost  any  northern  or  western 
landscape  would  seem  feeble  and  tame.  The  Athenians 
absorbed  natural  beauty  with  their  native  air. 

6.  The  Sunlight  in  Athens.  —  The  Athenian  loved  sun- 
shine, and  Helios  the  Sun  God  was  gracious  to  his  prayers. 
In  the  Athens  of  to-day  it  is  reckoned  that  the  year  averages 
179  days  in  which  the  sun  is  not  concealed  by  clouds  one 
instant;  and  157  days  more  when  the  sun  is  not  hidden 
more  than  half  an  hour.1  Ancient  Athens  was  surely  not 
more  cloudy.  Nevertheless,  despite  this  constant  sunshine 
and  a  southern  latitude,  Athens  was  striken  relatively  sel- 
dom with  semitropical  heat.  The  sea  was  a  good  friend, 

1  The  reason  for  these  many  clear  days  is  probably  because  when  the 
moist  west  and  southwest  winds  come  in  contact  with  the  dry,  heated 
air  of  the  Attic  plain,  they  are  at  once  volatilized  and  dispersed,  not 
condensed  (as  in  northern  lands) ;  therefore  the  day  resolves  itself  into 
brilliant  sunshine. 


6  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

bringing  tempering  breezes.  In  the  short  winter  there  might 
be  a  little  frost,  a  little  snow,  and  a  fair  supply  of  rain.  For 
the  rest  of  the  year,  one  golden  day  was  wont  to  succeed  an- 
other, with  the  sun  and  the  sea  breeze  in  ever  friendly  rivalry. 
The  climate  saved  the  Athenians  from  being  obliged  to 
wage  a  stern  warfare  with  nature  as  did  the  northern  peoples. 
Their  life  and  civilization  could  be  one  developed  essentially 
"  in  the  open  air " ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  bracing 
sea  breeze  saved  them  from  that  enervating  lethargy  which 
has  ruined  so  many  southern  folk.  The  scanty  soil 
forced  them  to  struggle  hard  to  win  a  living ;  unless  they 
yielded  to  the  constant  beckoning  of  the  ocean,  and 
sought  food,  adventure,  wealth,  and  a  great  empire  across 
the  seas. 

7.  The  Topography  of  the  City  of  Athens.  —  So  much  for 
the  land  of  Attica  in  general ;  but  what  of  the  setting  of  the 
city  of  Athens  itself?  The  city  lay  in  a  plain,  somewhat 
in  the  south  central  part  of  Attica,  and  about  four  miles 
back  from  the  sea.  A  number  of  mountains  came  together 
to  form  an  irregular  rectangle  with  the  Saronic  Gulf  upon 
the  south.  To  the  east  of  Athens  stretched  the  long  gnarled 
ridge  of  Hymettus,  the  wildest  and  grayest  mountain  in 
Attica,  the  home  of  bees  and  goatherds,  and  (if  there  be 
faith  in  pious  legend)  of  innumerable  nymphs  and  satyrs. 
To  the  west  ran  the  lower,  browner  mountains,  yEgaleos, 
across  which  a  road  (the  "  Sacred  Way  ")  wound  through  an 
easy  pass  towards  Eleusis,  the  only  sizable  town  in  Attica, 
outside  of  Athens  and  its  harbors.  To  the  rear  of  the  plain 
rose  a  noble  pyramid,  less  jagged  than  Hymettus,  more 
lordly  than  ^Egaleos ;  its  summits  were  fretted  with  a  white 
which  turned  to  clear  rose  color  under  the  sunset.  This 
was  Pentelicus,  from  the  veins  whereof  came  the  lustrous 
marble  for  the  master  sculptor.  Closer  at  hand,  nearer  the 
center  of  the  plain,  rose  a  small  and  very  isolated  hill,  — 


The  Physical  Setting  of  Athens  7 

Lycabettus,  whose  peaked  summit  looked  down  upon  the  roofs 
of  Athens.  And  last,  but  never  least,  about  one  mile  south- 
west of  Lycabettus,  upreared  a  natural  monument  of  much 
greater  fame,  —  not  a  hill,  but  a  colossal  rock.  Its  shape 
was  that  of  an  irregular  oval ;  it  was  about  1000  feet  long, 
500  feet  wide,  and  its  level  summit  stood  350  feet  above  the 


plain.  This  steep,  tawny  rock,  flung  by  the  Titans,  one  might 
dream,  into  the  midst  of  the  Attic  plain,  formed  one  of  the 
most  famous  sites  in  the  world,  for  it  was  the  Acropolis  of 
Athens.  Its  full  significance,  however,  must  be  explained 
later.  From  the  Acropolis  and  a  few  lesser  hills  close  by, 
the  land  sloped  gently  down  towards  the  harbors  and  the 
Saronic  Bay. 
These  were  the  great  features  of  the  outward  setting  of 


8  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

Athens.  One  might  add  to  them  the  long  belt  of  dark 
green  olive  groves  winding  down  the  westward  side  of  the 
plain,  where  the  Cephisus  (which  alone  among  Attic  rivu- 
lets did  not  run  dry  in  summer)  ran  down  to  the  sea. 
There  was  also  a  shorter  olive  belt  west  of  the  city,  where 
the  weaker  Ilissus  crept,  before  it  lost  itself  amid  the 
thirsty  fields. 

Sea,  rock,  and  sky,  then,  joined  together  around  Athens 
as  around  almost  no  other  city  in  the  world.  The  land- 
scape itself  was  adjusted  to  the  eye  with  marvelous  har- 
mony. The  colors  and  contours  formed  one  glorious  model 
for  the  sculptor  and  the  painter,  one  perpetual  inspiration 
for  the  poet.  Even  if  Athens  had  never  been  the  seat  of  a 
famous  race,  she  would  have  won  fame  as  being  situated  in 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  localities  in  the  world.  Kightly, 
therefore,  did  its  dwellers  boast  of  their  city  as  the  "  Violet- 
crowned  "  (lostephanos). 

8.  360  B.C.  —The  Year  of  the  Visit  to  Athens.  —  This  city 
let  us  visit  in  the  days  of  its  greatest  outward  glory.  We 
may  select  the  year  360  B.C.  At  that  time  Athens  had  re- 
covered from  the  ravages  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  while 
the  Macedonian  peril  had  not  as  yet  become  menacing. 
The  great  public  buildings  were  nearly  all  completed.  No 
signs  of  material  decadence  were  visible,  and  if  Athens  no 
longer  possessed  the  wide  naval  empire  of  the  days  of 
Pericles,  her  fleets  and  her  armies  were  still  formidable. 
The  harbors  were  full  of  commerce;  the  philosophers  were 
teaching  their  pupils  in  the  groves  and  porticoes ;  the  demo- 
cratic constitution  was  entirely  intact.  With  intelligent 
vision  we  will  enter  the  city  and  look  about  us. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  FIRST  SIGHTS  IN  ATHENS. 

9.  The  Morning  Crowds  bound  for  Athens.  —  It  is  very 
early  in  the  morning.  The  sun  has  just  pushed  above  the 
long  ridge  of  Hymettus,  sending  a  slanting  red  bar  of  light 
across  the  Attic  plain,  and  touching  the  opposite  slopes  of 
./Egaleos  with  livid  fire.  Already,  however,  life  is  stirring 
outside  the  city.  Long  since,  little  market  boats  have  rowed 
across  the  narrow  strait  from  Salamis,  bringing  the  island 
farmers'  produce,  and  other  farmers  from  the  plain  and  the 
mountain  slopes  have  started  for  market.  In  the  ruddy 
light  the  marble  temples  on  the  lofty  Acropolis  rising  ahead 
of  these  hurrying  rustics  are  standing  out  clearly ;  the  spear 
and  helmet  of  the  great  brazen  statue  of  the  Athena  Pro- 
machos  are  flashing  from  the  noble  citadel,  as  a  kind  of 
day  beacon,  beckoning  onward  toward  the  city.  From  the 
Peiraeus,  the  harbor  town,  a  confused  hum  of  mariners 
lading  and  unlading  the  vessels  is  even  now  rising,  but 
we  cannot  turn  ourselves  thither.  Our  route  is  to  follow 
the  farmers  bound  for  market. 

The  most  direct  road  from  the  Peiraeus  to  Athens  is 
hidden  indeed,  for  it  leads  between  the  towering  ramparts  of 
the  "  Long  Walls,"  two  mighty  barriers  which  run  parallel 
almost  four  miles  from  the  inland  city  to  the  harbor,  giving 
a  guarded  passage  in  wartime  and  making  Athens  safe 
against  starvation  from  any  land  blockade ;  but  there  is  an 
outside  road  leading  also  to  Athens  from  the  western  farm- 
steads, and  this  we  can  conveniently  follow.  Upon  this 


10 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


route  the  crowd  which  one  meets  is  certainly  not  aristo- 
cratic, but  it  is  none  the  less  Athenian.  Here  goes  a  drover, 
clad  in  skins,  his  legs  wound  with  woolen  bands  in  lieu  of 
stockings ;  before  him  and  his  wolf-like  dog  shambles  a  flock 

of  black  sheep  or  less  man- 
ageable goats,  bleating  and 
baaing  as  they  are  pro- 
pelled toward  market. 
After  him  there  may  come 
an  unkempt,  long-bearded 
farmer  flogging  on  a  pack 
ass  or  a  mule  attached  to 
a  clumsy  cart  with  solid 
wheels,  and  laden  with  all 
kinds  of  market  produce. 
The  roadway,  be  it  said,  is 
not  good,  and  all  carters 
have  their  troubles;  there- 


PEASANT  GOING  TO  MARKET. 


fore,  there  is  a  deal  of  ges- 
ticulating and  profane  in- 
vocation of  Hermes  and  all  other  gods  of  traffic ;  for,  early 
as  it  is,  the  market  place  is  already  filling,  and  every  delay 
promises  a  loss.  There  are  still  other  companies  bound 
toward  the  city :  countrymen  bearing  cages  of  poultry ; 
others  engaged  in  the  uncertain  calling  of  driving  pigs ; 
swarthy  Oriental  sailors,  with  rings  in  their  ears,  bearing 
bales  of  Phoenician  goods  from  the  Peiraeus ;  respectable 
country  gentlemen,  walking  gravely  in  their  best  white 
mantles  and  striving  to  avoid  the  mud  and  contamination ; 
and  perhaps  also  a  small  company  of  soldiers,  just  back 
from  foreign  service,  passes,  clattering  shields  and  spear 
staves. 

10.   The  Gate  and  the  Street  Scenes.  —  The  crowds  grow 
denser  as  everybody  approaches  the  frequented  "Peiraeus 


The  First  Sights  in  Athens 


11 


Gate,"  for  nearly  all  of  Attica  which  lies  within  easy  reach 
of  Athens  has  business  in  the  Market  Place  every  morn- 
ing. On  passing  the  gate  a  fairly  straight  way  leads 
through  the  city  to  the  market,  but  progress  for  the  multi- 
tude becomes  slow.  If  it  is  one  of  the  main  thoroughfares,  it 
is  now  very  likely  to  be  almost  blocked  with  people.  There 
are  few  late  risers  at  Athens  ;  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred,1 
the  huge  Jury  Courts,  and  the  Public  Assembly  (if  it  has 
met  to-day 2)  are  appointed  to  gather  at  sunrise.  The  plays 
in  the  theater,  which,  however,  are  given  only  on  certain 
festivals,  begin  likewise  at  sunrise.  The  philosophers  say 
that  "the  man  who  would  accomplish  great  things  must  be 
up  while  yet  it  is  dark."  Athenians,  therefore,  are  always 
awake  and  stirring  at 
an  hour  when  men  of 
later  ages  and  more 
cold  and  foggy  climes 
will  be  painfully  yawn- 
ing ere  getting  out  of 
bed. 

The  Market  Place 
attracts  the  great  mas- 
ses, but  by  no  means 
all ;  hither  and  thither 
bevies  of  sturdy  slave 
girls,  carrying  graceful 
pitchers  on  their 
heads,  are  hurrying 
towards  the  fountains 
which  gush  cool  water  at  most  of  the  street  corners. 
Theirs  is  a  highly  necessary  task,  for  few  or  no  houses 

1  The  "Boule,"  the  great  standing  committee  of  the  Athenian  people 
to  aid  the  magistrates  in  the  government. 

2  In  which  case,  of  course,  the  regular  courts  and  the  Council  would 
hardly  meet. 


AT  THE  STREET  FOUNTAIN. 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


have  their  own  water  supply  ;  and  around  each  fountain 
one  can  see  half  a  dozen  by  no  means  slatternly  maid- 
ens, splashing  and  flirting  the  water  one  at  another, 
while  they  wait  their  turn  with  the  pitchers,  and  laugh 
and  exchange  banter  with  the  passing  farmers'  lads. 
Many  in  the  street  crowds  are  rosy-cheeked  schoolboys, 
walking  decorously,  if  they  are  lads  of  good  breeding,  and 
blushing  modestly  when  they  are  greeted  by  their  fathers' 
acquaintances.  They  do  not  loiter  on  the  way.  Close 
behind,  carrying  their  writing  tablets,  follow  the  faithful 
'pedagogues,'  the  body-servants  appointed  to  conduct  them 
to  school,  give  them  informal  instruction,  and,  if  need  be, 
correct  their  faults  in  no  painless  manner.  Besides  the 
water  maids  and  the  schoolboys,  from  the  innumerable 
house  doors  now  opening  the  respective  masters  are  step- 
ping forth  —  followed  by  one,  two,  or  several  serving  varlets, 
as  many  as  their  wealth  affords.  All  these  join  in  the  crowd 
entering  from  the  country.  "  Athenian  democracy  "  always 
implies  a  goodly  amount  of  hustling  and  pushing.  No 
wonder  the  ways  are  a  busy  sight  ! 

11.  The  Streets  and  House  Fronts  of  Athens.  —  Progress 
is  slower  near  the  Market  Place  because  of  the  extreme 
narrowness  of  the  streets.  They  are  only  fifteen  feet  wide 
or  even  less,  —  intolerable  alleys  a  later  age  would  call 
them,  —  and  dirty  to  boot.  Sometimes  they  are  muddy, 
more  often  extremely  dusty.  Worse  still,  they  are  con- 
taminated by  great  accumulations  of  filth  ;  for  the  city  is 
without  an  efficient  sewer  system  or  regular  scavengers. 
Even  as  the  crowd  elbows  along,  a  house  door  will  frequently 
open,  an  ill-favored  slave  boy  show  his  head,  and  with  the 
yell,  "  Out  of  the  way  !  "  slap  a  bucket  of  dirty  water  into 
the  street.  There  are  many  things  to  offend  the  nose  as 
well  as  the  eyes  of  men  of  a  later  race.  It  is  fortunate  in- 
deed that  the  Athenians  are  otherwise  a  healthy  folk,  or 


The  First  Sights  in  Athens  13 

they  would  seem  liable  to  perpetual  pestilence ;  even  so, 
great  plagues  have  in  past  years  harried  the  city.1 

The  first  entrance  to  Athens  will  thus  bring  to  a  stranger, 
full  of  the  city's  fame  and  expectant  of  meeting  objects  of 
beauty  at  every  turn,  almost  instant  disappointment.  The 
narrow,  dirty,  ill-paved  streets  are  also  very  crooked.  One 
can  readily  be  lost  in  a  labyrinth  of  filthy  little  lanes 
the  moment  one  quits  the  few  main  thoroughfares.  High 
over  head,  to  be  sure,  the  red  crags  of  the  Acropolis  may  be 
towering,  crowned  with  the  red,  gold,  and  white  tinted 
marble  of  the  temples,  but  all  around  seems  only  monoto- 
nous squalor.  The  houses  seem  one  continuous  series  of 
blank  walls ;  mostly  of  one,  occasionally  of  two  stories,  and 
with  flat  roofs.  These  walls  are  usually  spread  over  with 
some  dirty  gray  or  perhaps  yellow  stucco.  For  most  houses, 
the  only  break  in  the  street  walls  are  the  simple  doors, 
all  jealously  barred  and  admitting  no  glance  within. 
There  are  usually  no  street  windows,  if  the  house  is  only 
one  story  high.  If  it  has  two  stories,  a  few  narrow  slits 
above  the  way  may  hint  that  here  are  the  apartments  for 
the  slaves  or  women.  There  are  no  street  numbers. 
There  are  often  no  street  names.  "  So-and-so  lives  in  such- 
and-such  a  quarter,  near  the  Temple  of  Heracles;  "  that  will 
enable  you  to  find  a  householder,  after  a  few  tactful  ques- 
tions from  the  neighbors ;  and  after  all,  Athens  is  a  rela- 
tively small  city2  (as  great  cities  are  reckoned),  very 


1  The  most  fearful  thereof  was  the  great  plague  of  430  B.C.  (during  the 
Peloponnesian  War),  which  nearly  ruined  Athens. 

2  Every  guess  at  the  population  of  Athens  rests  on  mere  conjecture ;  yet, 
using  the  scanty  data  which  we  possess,  it  seems  possible  that  the  popula- 
tion of  all  Attica  at  the  height  of  its  prosperity  was  about  200,000  free 
persons  (including  the  metics  —  resident  foreigners  without  citizenship); 
and  a  rather  smaller  number  of  slaves — say  150,000  or  less.  Of  this  total  of 
some  350,000,  probably  something  under  one  half  resided  in  the  city  of 
Athens  during  times  of  peace,  the  rest  in  the  outlying  farms  and  vil- 
lages.   Athens  may  be  imagined  as  a  city  of  about  150,000 — possibly  a 


14  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

closely  built,  and  her  regular  denizens  do  not  feel  the  need 
of  a  directory. 

So  the  crowd  elbows  its  way  onward :  now  thinning,  now 
gaining,  but  the  main  stream  always  working  towards  the 
Market  Place. 

12.  The  Simplicity  of  Athenian  Life.  —  It  is  clear  we  are 
entering  a  city  where  nine  tenths  of  what  the  twentieth 
century  will  consider  the  "essential  conveniences"  of 
life  are  entirely  lacking;  where  men  are  trying  to  be 
civilized  —  or,  as  the  Greeks  would  say,  to  lay  hold  upon 
"the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good,"  without  even  the 
absolute  minimum  of  those  things  which  people  of  a  later  age 
will  believe  separate  a  "  civilized  man"  from  a  "barbarian." 
The  gulf  between  old  Athens  and,  for  instance,  new  Chicago, 
is  greater  than  is  readily  supposed.1  It  is  easy  enough  to  say 
that  the  Athenians  lacked  such  things  as  railways,  tele- 
phones, gas,  grapefruit,  and  cocktails.  All  such  matters 
we  realize  were  not  known  by  our  fathers  and  grandfathers, 
and  we  are  not  yet  so  removed  from  them  that  we  cannot 
transport  ourselves  in  imagination  back  to  the  world  of  say 
1820  A.D.  ;  but  the  Athenians  are  far  behind  even  our 
grandfathers.  When  we  investigate,  we  will  find  conditions 
like  these  —  houses  absolutely  without  plumbing,  beds  with- 
out sheets,  rooms  as  hot  or  as  cold  as  the  outer  air,  only  far 
more  drafty.  We  must  cross  rivers  without  bridges;  we 
must  fasten  on  our  clothes  (or  rather  our  "two  pieces  of 
cloth")  with  two  pins  instead  of  with  a  row  of  buttons;  we 
must  wear  sandals  without  stockings  (or  go  barefoot)  ;  must 
warm  ourselves  over  a  pot  of  ashes ;  judge  plays  or  lawsuits 
on  a  cold  winter  morning  sitting  in  the  open  air ;  we  must 

trifle  more.    During  serious  wars  there  would  be  of  course  a  general 
removal  into  the  city. 

1  See  the  very  significant  comment  on  the  physical  limitations  of  the 
old  Athenian  life  in  Zimmern's  The  Greek  Commonwealth,  p.  209. 


The  First  Sights  in  Athens  15 

study  poetry  with  very  little  aid  from  books,  geography 
without  real  maps,  and  politics  without  newspapers;  and 
lastly,"  we  must  learn  how  to  be  civilized  without  being  com- 
fortable ! " 1 

Or,  to  reverse  the  case :  we  must  understand  that  an 
Athenian  would  have  pronounced  our  boasted  "civiliza- 
tion "  hopelessly  artificial,  and  our  life  so  dependent  on  out- 
ward material  props  and  factors  as  to  be  scarcely  worth  the 
living.  He  would  declare  himself  well  able  to  live  happily 
under  conditions  where  the  average  American  or  English- 
man would  be  cold,  semi-starved,  and  miserable.  He  would 
declare  that  his  woe  or  happiness  was  retained  far  more 
under  his  own  control  than  we  retain  ours,  and  that  we  are 
worthy  of  contemptuous  pity  rather  than  of  admiration, 
because  we  have  refined  our  civilization  to  such  a  point 
that  the  least  accident,  e.g.  the  suspension  of  railroad  traffic 
for  a  few  days,  can  reduce  a  modern  city  to  acute  wretched- 
ness. 

Probably  neither  the  twentieth  century  in  its  pride,  nor 
the  fourth  century  B.C.  in  its  contempt,  would  have  all  the 
truth  upon  its  side.2  The  difference  in  viewpoint,  however, 
must  still  stand.  Preeminently  Athens  may  be  called  the 
"  City  of  the  Simple  Life."  Bearing  this  fact  in  mind,  we 
may  follow  the  multitude  and  enter  the  Market  Place ;  or,  to 
use  the  name  that  stamps  it  as  a  peculiarly  Greek  institu- 
tion, —  the  Agora. 

1  Zimmern,  ibid. 

2  The  mere  matter  of  climate  would  of  course  have  to  come  in  as  a 
serious  factor.    The  Athenian  would  have  found  his  life  becoming  infi- 
nitely more  complex  along  the  material  side  when  he  tried  to  live  like  a 
kalos-k' agathos — i.e.  a  "noble and  good  man,"  or  a  "gentleman,"  —  in  a 
land  where  the  thermometer  might  sink  to  15°  below  zero  Fahrenheit  (or 
even  lower)  from  time  to  time  during  the  winter. 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE   AGORA  AND   ITS   DENIZENS. 

13.  The  Buildings  around  the  Agora.  —  Full  market  time ! J 
The  great  plaza  of  the  Agora  is  buzzing  with  life.  The  con- 
trast between  the  dingy,  dirty  streets  and  this  magnificent 
public  plaza  is  startling.  The  Athenians  manifestly  care 
little  for  merely  private  display,  rather  they  frown  upon 
it;  their  wealth,  patriotism,  and  best  artistic  energy  seem 
all  lavished  upon  their  civic  establishments  and  buildings. 

The  Agora  is  a  square  of  spacious  dimensions,  planted 
here  and  there  with  graceful  bay  trees.  Its  greatest  length 
runs  north  and  south.  Ignoring  for  the  time  the  teeming 
noisy  swarms  of  humanity,  let  our  eyes  be  directed  merely 
upon  the  encircling  buildings.  The  place  is  almost  com- 
pletely inclosed  by  them,  although  not  all  are  of  equal  ele- 
gance or  pretension.  Some  are  temples  of  more  or  less  size, 
like  the  temple  of  the  "  Paternal  Apollo "  near  the  south- 
western angle ;  or  the  "  Metroon,"  the  fane  of  Cybele  "  the 
Great  Mother  of  the  Gods,"  upon  the  south.  Others  are 
governmental  buildings ;  somewhat  behind  the  Metroon  rise 
the  imposing  pillars  of  the  Council  House,  where  the  Five 
Hundred  are  deliberating  on  the  policy  of  Athens;  and 
hard  by  that  is  the  Tholos,  the  "Bound  House,"  with  a 
peaked,  umbrella-shaped  roof,  beneath  which  the  sacred 
public  hearth  fire  is  ever  kept  burning,  and  where  the  pre- 
siding Committee  of  the  Council2  and  certain  high  officials 

1  Between  nine  and  twelve  A.M. 

*  This  select  committee  was  known  technically  as  the  Prytanes. 
16 


The  Agora  and  Its  Denizens 


17 


take  their  meals,  and  a  good  deal  of  state  business  is  trans- 
acted. The  majority  of  these  buildings  upon  the  Agora, 
however,  are  covered  promenades,  porticoes,  or  stose. 

The  stoae  are  combinations  of  rain  shelters,  shops,  pic- 
ture galleries,  and  public  offices.  Turn  under  the  pillars  of 
the  "Royal  Stoa"  upon  the  west,  and  you  are  among  a 
whispering,  nudging,  intent  crowd  of  listeners,  pushing 
against  the  barriers  of  a  low  court.  Long  rows  of  jurors 
are  sitting  on  their  benches ;  the  "  King  Archon  "  is  on  the 
president's  stand,  and  some  poor 
wight  is  being  arraigned  on  a 
charge  of  "  Impiety  "  l ;  while 
on  the  walls  behind  stand  graved 
the  ancient  laws  of  Draco  and 
Solon. 

Cross  the  square,  and  on  the 
opposite  side  is  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  of  the  porticoes,  the 
"  Painted  Porch  "  (Stoa  Poikile), 
a  long  covered  walk,  a  delightful 
refuge  alike  from  sun  and  rain. 
Almost  the  entire  length  of  the 
inner  walls  (for  it  has  columns 
only  on  the  side  of  the  Agora) 
is  covered  with  vivid  frescoes.  Here  Polygnotus  and  other 
master  painters  have  spread  out  the  whole  legendary  story 
of  the  capture  of  Troy  and  of  the  defeat  of  the  Amazons ; 
likewise  the  more  historical  tale  of  the  battle  of  Marathon. 
Yet  another  promenade,  the  "  Stoa  of  Zeus,"  is  sacred  to 
Zeus,  Giver  of  Freedom.  The  walls  are  not  frescoed,  but 
hung  with  the  shields  of  valiant  Athenian  warriors. 

In  the  open  spaces  of  the  plaza  itself  are  various  altars, 
e.g.  to  the  "  Twelve  Gods,"  and  innumerable  statues  of  local 


A  WAYSIDE  HERM. 


1  The  so-called  "  King  Archon  "  had  special  cognizance  of  most  cases 
involving  religious  questions ;  and  his  court  was  in  this  stoa. 


18  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

worthies,  as  of  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton,  the  tyrant- 
slayers  ;  while  across  the  center,  cutting  the  Market  Place 
from  east  to  west,  runs  a  line  of  stone  posts,  each  sur- 
mounted with  a  rude  bearded  head  of  Hermes,  the  trader's 
god ;  and  each  with  its  base  plastered  many  times  over  with 
all  kinds  of  official  and  private  placards  and  notices. 

14.  The  Life  in  the   Agora.  —  So  much  for  the   physical 
setting  of  the  Agora :  of  far  greater  interest  surely  are  the 
people.     The  whole  square  is  abounding  with  noisy  activity. 
If  an  Athenian  has  no  actual  business  to  transact,  he  will  at 
least  go  to  the  Agora  to  get  the  morning  news.     Two  turns 
under  the  "  Painted  Porch  "  will  tell  him  the  last  rumor  as 
to  the  foreign  policy  of  Thebes :  whether  it  is  true  that  old 
King  Agesilaus  has  died  at  Sparta ;  whether  corn  is  likely 
to  be  high,  owing  to  a  failure  of  crops  in  the  Euxine  (Black 
Sea)  region  ;  whether  the  "  Great  King  "  of  Persia  is  pros- 
pering  in  his   campaign    against    Egypt.     The   crowd   is 
mostly  clad  in  white,  though  often  the  cloaks  of  the  humbler 
visitors  are  very  dirty,  but  there  is  a   sprinkling   of   gay 
colors, — blue,  orange,  and  pink.     Everybody  is  talking  at 
once   in   melodious   Attic;   everybody   (since  they  are   all 
true  children  of  the  south)  is  gesticulating  at  once.     To  the 
babel  of  human  voices  is  added  the  wheezing  whistle  of 
donkeys,   the   squealing   of    pigs,   the   cackle   of    poultry. 
Besides,  from  many  of  the  little  factories  and  workshops 
on  or  near  the  Agora  a  great  din  is  rising.     The  clamor 
is  prodigious.     Criers  are  stalking  up  and  down  the  square, 
one  bawling  out  that  Andocides  has  lost  a  valuable  ring 
and  will  pay  well  to  recover   it;    another    that  Pheidon 
has  a  desirable  horse  that  he  will  sell  cheap.     One  must 
stand  still  for  some  moments  and  let  eye  and  ear  accustom 
themselves  to  such  utter  confusion. 

15.  The    Booths  and   Shops   in    the   Agora.  —  At   length 
out  of  the  chaos   there  seems  to  emerge  a  certain   order. 


The  Agora  and  Its  Denizens 


19 


The  major  part  of  the  square  is  covered  with  little  booths 
of  boards  and  wicker  work,  very  frail  and  able  to  be  folded 
up,  probably  every  night.  There  are  little  lanes  winding 
amid  these  booths;  and  each  manner  of  huckster  has  its 
own  especial  "  circle  "  or  section  of  the  market.  "  Go  to  the 
wine,"  "to  the  fish,"  "to  the  myrtles"  (i.e.  the  flowers),  are 
common  directions  for  finding  difficult  parts  of  the  Agora. 
Trade  is  mostly  on  a  small  scale,  — the  stock  of  each  vender 
is  distinctly  limited 
in  its  range,  and 
Athens  is  without 
"  department  stores." 
Behind  each  low  coun- 
ter, laden  with  its 
wares,  stands  the  pro- 
prietor, who  keeps  up 
a  din  from  leathern 
lungs:  "  Buy  my 
oil  ! "  "  Buy  char- 
coal !  "  "  Buy  sau- 
sage!" etc.,  until  he 
is  temporarily  si- 
lenced while  dealing  A  CARPENTER. 
with  a  customer. 

In  one  "  circle  "  may  be  found  onions  and  garlic  (a  favorite 
food  of  the  poor)  ;  a  little  further  on  are  the  dealers  in  wine, 
fruit,  and  garden  produce.  Lentils  and  peas  can  be  had 
either  raw,  or  cooked  and  ready  to  eat  on  the  spot.  An 
important  center  is  the  bread  market.  The  huge  cylindrical 
loaves  are  handed  out  by  shrewd  old  women  with  proverbi- 
ally long  tongues.  Whosoever  upsets  one  of  their  deli- 
cately balanced  piles  of  loaves  is  certain  of  an  artistic 
tongue  lashing.  Elsewhere  there  is  a  pottery  market,  a 
clothes  market,  and,  nearer  the  edge  of  the  Agora,  are 
"  circles,"  where  objects  of  real  value  are  sold,  like  jewelry, 


20  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

chariots,  good  furniture.  In  certain  sections,  too,  may  be 
seen  strong-voiced  individuals,  with  little  trays  swung  by 
straps  before  them,  pacing  to  and  fro,  and  calling  out,  not 
foods,  but  medicines,  infallible  cure-alls  for  every  human 
distemper.  Many  are  the  unwary  fools  who  patronize 
them. 

16.  The  Flower  and  the  Fish  Venders.  —  Two  circles  at- 
tract especial  attention,  the  Myrtles  and  the  Fish.  Flow- 
ers and  foliage,  especially  when  made  up  into  garlands,  are 
absolutely  indispensable  to  the  average  Greek.  Has  he  a 
great  family  festival,  e.g.  the  birth  of  a  son,  then  every 
guest  should  wear  a  crown  of  olives ;  is  it  a  wedding,  then 
one  of  flowers.1  Oak-leaves  do  the  honors  for  Zeus ;  laurel 
for  Apollo ;  myrtle  for  Aphrodite  (and  is  not  the  Love-God- 
dess the  favorite  ?).  To  have  a  social  gathering  without 
garlands,  in  short,  is  impossible.  The  flower  girls  of  Ath- 
ens are  beautiful,  impudent,  and  not  at  all  prudish.  Around 
their  booths  press  bold-tongued  youths,  and  not  too  dis- 
creet sires  ;  and  the  girls  can  call  everybody  familiarly 
by  name.  Very  possibly  along  with  the  sale  of  the  garlands 
they  make  arrangements  (if  the  banquet  is  to  be  of  the  less 
respectable  kind)  to  be  present  in  the  evening  themselves, 
perhaps  in  the  capacity  of  flute  girls. 

More  reputable,  though  not  less  noisy,  is  the  fish  market. 
Athenians  boast  themselves  of  being  no  hearty  "meat 
eaters  "  like  their  Boeotian  neighbors,  but  of  preferring  the 
more  delicate  fish.  No  dinner  party  is  successful  without  a 
seasonable  course  of  fish.  The  arrival  of  a  fresh  cargo  from 
the  harbor  is  announced  by  the  clanging  of  a  bell,  which  is 
likely  to  leave  all  the  other  booths  deserted,  while  a  crowd 
elbows  around  the  fishmonger.  He  above  all  others  com- 

1The  Greeks  lacked  many  of  our  common  flowers.  Their  ordinary 
flowers  were  white  violets,  narcissus,  lilies,  crocuses,  blue  hyacinths,  and 
roses  ("the  Flower  of  Zeus")-  The  usual  garland  was  made  of  myrtle 
or  ivy,  and  then  entwined  with  various  flowers. 


The  Agora  and  Its  Denizens  21 

mands  the  greatest  flow  of  billingsgate,  and  is  especially 
notorious  for  his  arrogant  treatment  of  his  customers,  and 
for  exacting  the  uttermost  farthing.  The  "  Fish  "  and  the 
"  Myrtles  "  can  be  sure  of  a  brisk  trade  on  days  when  all 
the  other  booth  keepers  around  the  Agora  stand  idle. 

All  this  trade,  of  course,  cannot  find  room  in  the  booths 
of  the  open  Agora.  Many  hucksters  sit  on  their  haunches 
on  the  level  ground  with  their  few  wares  spread  before 
them.  Many  more  have  little  stands  between  the  pillars  of 
the  stoae;  and  upon  the  various  streets  that  converge  on 
the  market  there  is  a  fringe  of  shops,  but  these  are  usually 
of  the  more  substantial  sort.  Here  are  the  barbers'  shops, 
the  physicians'  offices  (if  the  good  leech  is  more  than  an 
itinerant  quack),  and  all  sorts  of  little  factories,  such  as 
smithies,  where  the  cutler's  apprentices  in  the  rear  of  the 
shop  forge  the  knives  which  the  proprietor  sells  over  the 
counter,  the  slave  repositories,  and  finally  wine  establish- 
ments of  no  high  repute,  where  wine  may  not  merely  be 
bought  by  the  skin  (as  in  the  main  Agora),  but  by  the  pot- 
ful  to  be  drunk  on  the  premises. 

17.  The  Morning  Visitors  to  the  Agora.  —  The  first  tour  of 
inspection  completed,  several  facts  become  clear  to  the  vis- 
itor. One  is  the  extraordinarily  large  proportion  of  men 
among  the  moving  multitudes.  Except  for  the  bread 
women  and  the  flower  girls,  hardly  one  female  is  to  be 
found  among  the  sellers.  Among  the  purchasers  there  is 
not  a  single  reputable  lady.  No  Athenian  gentlewoman 
dreams  of  frequenting  the  Agora.  Even  a  poor  man's  wife 
prefers  to  let  her  spouse  do  the  family  marketing.  As  for 
the  "  men  folk,"  the  average  gentleman  will  go  daily  indeed 
to  the  Agora,  but  if  he  is  really  pretentious,  it  will  be  merely 
to  gossip  and  to  meet  his  friends ;  a  trusted  servant  will 
attend  to  the  regular  purchasing.  Only  when  an  important 
dinner  party  is  on  hand  will  the  master  take  pains  to  order 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


for  himself.  If  he  does  purchase  in  person,  he  will  never 
carry  anything  himself.  The  slaves  can  attend  to  that  ;  and 
only  the  slaveless  (the  poorest  of  all)  must  take  away  their 
modest  rations  of  boiled  lentils,  peas,  beans,  onions,  and 
garlic,  usually  in  baskets,  though  yonder  now  is  a  soldier 
who  is  bearing  off  a  measure  of  boiled  peas  inside  his  hel- 
met. 

Another  thing  is  striking.  The  average  poor  Athenian 
seems  to  have  no  purse.  Or  rather  he  uses  the  purse  pro- 
vided by  nature.  At  every  booth  one  can  see  unkempt 
buyers  solemnly  taking  their  small  change  from  their 
mouths.1  Happy  the  people  that  has  not  learned  the 
twentieth  century  wisdom  concerning  microbes  !  For  most 
Athenians  seem  marvelously  healthy. 

Still  one  other  fact  is  brought  home  constantly.  "  Fixed 
prices  "  are  absolutely  unknown.  The  slightest  transaction 
involves  a  war  of  bargaining.  Wits  are  matched  against 
wits,  and  only  after  a  vast  deal  of  wind  do  buyer  and  seller 
reach  a  fair  compromise.  All  this  makes  retail  trade  in 
the  Agora  an  excellent  school  for  public  affairs  or  litigation. 


18.  The  Leisured  Class  in  Athens.  —  Evidently  Athens, 
more  than  many  later-day  cities,  draws  clear  lines  between 
the  workers  and  the  "  gentlemen  of  leisure."  There  is  no 
distinction  of  dress  between  the  numerous  slaves  and  the 
humbler  free  workers  and  traders ;  but  there  is  obvious  dis- 
tinction between  the  artisan  of  bent  shoulders  who  sham- 
bles out  of  yonder  pungent  tannery,  with  his  scant  garments 
girded  around  him,  and  the  graceful  gentleman  of  easy  ges- 
tures and  flowing  drapery  who  moves  towards  the  Tholos. 
There  is  great  political  democracy  in  Athens,  but  not  so 
much  social  democracy.  "Leisure,"  i.e.  exemption  from 

1  A  wealthier  purchaser  would,  of  course,  have  his  own  pouch,  or  more 
probably  one  carried  for  him  by  a  slave. 


The  Agora  and  Its  Denizens  23 

every  kind  of  sordid,  money-getting,  hard  work,  is  counted 
the  true  essential  for  a  respectable  existence,  and  to  live  on 
the  efforts  of  others  and  to  devote  oneself  to  public  service 
or  to  letters  and  philosophy  is  the  open  satisfaction  or  the 
private  longing  of  every  Athenian. 

A  great  proportion  of  these,  therefore,  who  frequent  the 
Agora  are  not  here  on  practical  business,  unless  they  have 
official  duties  at  the  government  offices.1  But  in  no  city  of 
any  age  has  the  gracious  art  of  doing  nothing  been  brought 
to  such  perfection.  The  Athenians  are  an  intensely  gre- 
garious people.  Everybody  knows  everybody  else.  Says 
an  orator,  "It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  be  either  a  rascal 
or  an  honest  man  in  this  city  without  your  all  knowing  it." 
Few  men  walk  long  alone ;  if  they  do  keep  their  own  com- 
pany, they  are  frowned  on  as  "  misanthropes."  The  morn- 
ing visit  to  the  Agora  "  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing  " 2 
will  be  followed  by  equally  delightful  idling  and  conversa- 
tion later  in  the  day  at  the  Gymnasia,  and  later  still,  prob- 
ably, at  the  dinner-party.  Easy  and  unconventional  are  the 
personal  greetings.  A  little  shaking  out  of  the  mantle,  an 
indescribable  flourish  with  the  hands.  A  free  Greek  will 
despise  himself  for  "  bowing,"  even  to  the  Great  King.  To 
clasp  hands  implies  exchanging  a  pledge,  something  far 
more  than  mere  salutation. 

"  Chaire,  Aristomenes ! " 

"  Chaire,  Cleandros  ! " 

Such  is  the  usual  greeting,  using  an  expressive  word 
which  can  mean  equally  well  "  hail !  "  and  "  farewell !  " 

19.  Familiar  Types  around  the  Agora.  —  These  animated, 
eager-faced  men  whose  mantles  fall  in  statuesque  folds  pre- 
fer obviously  to  walk  under  the  Painted  Porch,  or  the  blue 

1  To  serve  the  state  in  any  official  capacity  (usually  without  any  salary 
attached  to  the  office)  would  give  the  highest  satisfaction  to  any  Greek. 
The  desire  for  participation  in  public  affairs  might  be  described  as  a 
mania.  2  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  17 : 21. 


24  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

roof  of  heaven,  while  they  evolve  their  philosophies,  mature 
their  political  schemes,  or  organize  the  material  for  their 
orations  and  dramas,  rather  than  to  bend  over  desks  within 
close  offices.  Around  the  Athenian  Agora,  a  true  type  of 
this  preference,  and  busy  with  this  delightful  idleness, 
half  a  century  earlier  could  have  been  seen  a  droll  figure  with 
"  indescribable  nose,  bald  head,  round  body,  eyes  rolling  and 
twinkling  with  good  humor,"  scantily  clad,  —  an  incorrigible 
do-nothing,  windbag,  and  hanger-on,  a  later  century  might  as- 
sert, —  yet  history  has  given  to  him  the  name  of  Socrates. 

Not  all  Athenians,  of  course,  make  such  justifiable  use  of 
their  idleness.  There  are  plenty  of  young  men  parading 
about  in  long  trailing  robes,  their  hair  oiled  and  curled  most 
effeminately,  their  fingers  glittering  with  jewels,  —  "  ring- 
loaded,  curly-locked  coxcombs,"  Aristophanes,  the  comic  poet, 
has  called  them,  —  and  they  are  here  only  for  silly  display. 
Also  there  are  many  of  their  elders  who  have  no  philosophy 
or  wit  to  justify  their  continuous  talking ;  nevertheless,  all 
considered,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  Athenians  make  a 
use  of  their  dearly  loved  "  leisure,"  which  men  of  a  more 
pragmatic  race  will  do  well  to  consider  as  the  fair  equivalent 
of  much  frantic  zeal  for  "business."  Athenian  "leisure" 
has  already  given  the  world  Pericles,  Thucydides,  ^Eschylus, 
Sophocles,  Euripides,  Socrates,  and  Plato,  not  to  name  such 
artists  as  Phidias,  whose  profession  cannot  exempt  them 
from  a  certain  manual  occupation. 

20.  The  Barber  Shops. — This  habit  of  genteel  idleness 
naturally  develops  various  peculiar  institutions.  For 
example,  the  barber  shops  are  almost  club  rooms.  Few 
Hellenes  at  this  time  shave  their  beards,1  but  to  go  with 
unkempt  whiskers  and  with  too  long  hair  is  most  disgrace- 

1  Alexander  the  Great  (336-323  B.C.)  required  his  soldiers  to  be  shaved 
(as  giving  less  grasp  for  the  enemy!),  and  the  habit  then  spread  generally 
through  the  whole  Hellenic  world. 


The  Agora  and  Its  Denizens  25 

ful.  The  barber  shops,  booths,  or  little  rooms  let  into  the 
street  walls  of  the  houses,  are  therefore  much  frequented. 
The  good  tonsors  have  all  the  usual  arts.  They  can  dye 
gray  hair  brown  or  black ;  they  can  wave  or  curl  their  pa- 
trons' locks  (and  an  artificially  curled  head  is  no  disgrace  to 
a  man).  Especially,  they  keep  a  good  supply  of  strong  per- 
fumes ;  for  many  people  will  want  a  little  scent  on  their  hair 
each  morning,  even  if  they  wish  no  other  attention.  But  it 
is  not  an  imposition  to  a  barber  to  enter  his  shop,  yet  never 
move  towards  his  low  stool  before  the  shining  steel  mirror. 
Anybody  is  welcome  to  hang  around  indefinitely,  listening 
to  the  proprietor's  endless  flow  of  talk.  He  will  pride  him- 
self on  knowing  every  possible  bit  of  news  or  rumor :  Had 
the  Council  resolved  on  a  new  fleet-building  program  ? 
Had  the  Tyrant  of  Syracuse's  "  four  "  the  best  chance  in  the 
chariot  race  in  the  next  Olympic  games  ?  The  garrulity  of 
barbers  is  already  proverbial. 

"  How  shall  I  cut  your  hair,  sir  ?  "  once  asked  the  court 
tonsor  of  King  Archelaus  of  Macedon. 

"  In  silence,"  came  the  grim  answer. 

But  the  proprietor  will  not  do  all  the  talking.  Everybody 
in  the  little  room  will  join.  Wits  will  sharpen  against  wits ; 
and  if  the  company  is  of  a  grave  and  respectable  sort,  the 
conversation  will  grow  brisk  upon  Plato's  theory  of  the 
"  reality  of  ideas,"  upon  Euripides's  interpretation  of  the 
relations  of  God  to  man,  or  upon  the  spiritual  symbolism 
of  Scopas's  bas-reliefs  at  Halicarnassus. 

The  barber  shops  by  the  Agora  then  are  essential  portions 
of  Athenian  social  life.  Later  we  shall  see  them  supple- 
mented by  the  Gymnasia;  —  but  the  Agora  has  detained  us 
long  enough.  The  din  and  crowds  are  lessening.  People 
are  beginning  to  stream  homeward.  It  lacks  a  little  of  noon 
according  to  the  "time-staff"  (gnomon),  a  simple  sun  dial 
which  stands  near  one  of  the  porticoes,  and  we  will  now 
follow  some  Athenian  gentleman  towards  his  dwelling. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  ATHENIAN  HOUSE  AND  ITS  FURNISHINGS. 

21 .  Following  an  Athenian  Gentleman  Homeward.  —  Leavin  g 
the  Agora  and  reentering  the  streets  the  second  impression 
of  the  residence  districts  becomes  more  favorable.  There 
are  a  few  bay  trees  planted  from  block  to  block ;  and  ever 
and  anon  the  monotonous  house  walls  recede,  giving  space  to 
display  some  temple,  like  the  Fane  of  Hephaestos1  near 
the  Market  Place,  its  columns  and  pediment  flashing  not 
merely  with  white  marble,  but  with  the  green,  scarlet,  and 
gold  wherewith  the  Greeks  did  not  hesitate  to  decorate  their 
statuary. 

At  street  corners  and  opposite  important  mansions  a 
Hermes-bust  like  those  in  the  plaza  rises,  and  a  very  few 
houses  have  a  couple  of  pillars  at  their  entrances  and  some 
outward  suggestion  of  hidden  elegance. 

We  observe  that  almost  the  entire  crowd  leaving  the 
Agora  goes  on  foot.  To  ride  about  in  a  chariot  is  a  sign  of 
undemocratic  presumption ;  while  only  women  or  sick  men 
will  consent  to  be  borne  in  a  litter.  We  will  select  a 
sprucely  dressed  gentleman  who  has  just  been  anointed  in  a 
barber's  shop  and  accompany  him  to  his  home.  He  is 
neither  one  of  the  decidedly  rich,  otherwise  his  establish- 
ment would  be  exceptional,  not  typical,  nor  is  he  of  course 
one  of  the  hard-working  poor.  Followed  by  perhaps  two 
clean  and  capable  serving  lads,  he  wends  his  way  down 
several  of  the  narrow  lanes  that  lie  under  the  northern  brow 

1  Wrongly  called  the  "  Theseum  "  in  modern  Athens. 
26 


The  Athenian  House  and  Its  Furnishings    27 

of  the  Acropolis.1  Before  a  plain  solid  house  door  he  halts 
and  cries  Pai!  Pai!  ["Boy  !  Boy  ! "].  There  is  a  rattle  of 
bolts  and  bars.  A  low-visaged  foreign-born  porter,  whose 
business  it  is  to  show  a  surly  front  to  all  unwelcome  visitors, 
opens  and  gives  a  kind  of  salaam  to  his  master ;  while  the 
porter's  huge  dog  jumps  up  barking  and  pawing  joyously. 

As  we  enter  behind  him  (carefully  advancing  with  right 
foot  foremost,  for  it  is  bad  luck  to  tread  a  threshold  with 
the  left)  we  notice  above  the  lintel  some  such  inscription  as 
"  Let  no  evil  enter  here  ! "  or  "  To  the  Good  Genius,"  then  a 
few  steps  through  a  narrow  passage  bring  us  into  the  Aula, 
the  central  court,  the  indispensable  feature  of  every  typical 
Greek  house. 

22.  The  Type  and  Uses  of  a  Greek  House.  —  All  domestic 
architecture,  later  investigators  will  discover,  falls  into  two 
great  categories  —  of  the  northern  house  and  the  southern 
house.  The  northern  house  begins  with  a  single  large  room, 
"  the  great  hall,"  then  lesser  rooms  are  added  to  it.  It  gets 
its  light  from  windows  in  the  outer  walls,  and  it  is  covered 
by  a  single  steep  roof.  The  southern  (Greek  and  Oriental) 
house  is  a  building  inclosing  a  rectangular  court.  The 
rooms,  many  or  few,  get  their  light  from  this  court,  while 
they  are  quite  shut  off  from  the  world  outside.  All  in  all, 
for  warm  climates  this  style  of  house  is  far  more  airy,  cool, 
comfortable  than  the  other.  The  wide  open  court  becomes 
the  living  room  of  the  house  save  in  very  inclement  weather. 

Socrates  is  reported  to  have  uttered  what  was  probably 
the  average  sensible  view  about  a  good  house.2  The  good 
house,  he  thought,  should  be  cool  in  summer,  and  warm  in 
winter,  convenient  for  the  accommodation  of  the  family  and 
its  possessions.  The  central  rooms  should  therefore  be 

1  This  would  be  a  properly  respectable  quarter  of  the  city,  but  we  do  not 
know  of  any  really  "aristocratic  residence  district "  in  Athens. 

2  In  Xenophon's  Memorabilia,  III.  8,  §§  9,  10. 


28  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

lofty  and  should  open  upon  the  south,  yet  for  protection  in 
summer  there  should  be  good  projecting  eaves  (over  the 
court)  and  again  the  rooms  on  the  northern  exposure  should 
be  made  lower.  All  this  is  mere  sense,  but  really  the 
average  male  Athenian  does  not  care  a  great  deal  about  his 
dwelling.  He  spends  surprisingly  little  money  beautifying 
it.  Unless  he  is  sick,  he  will  probably  be  at  home  only  for 
sleeping  and  eating.  The  Agora,  the  Public  Assembly,  the 
Jury  Courts,  the  Gymnasium,  the  great  religious  festivals 
consume  his  entire  day.  "  I  never  spend  my  time  indoors," 
says  Xenophon's  model  Athenian,  "  my  wife  is  well  able  to 
run  the  household  by  herself."1  Such  being  the  case,  even 
wealthy  men  have  very  simple  establishments,  although  it 
is  at  length  complained  (e.g.  by  Demosthenes)  that  people 
are  now  building  more  luxurious  houses,  and  are  not  con- 
tent with  the  plain  yet  sufficient  dwellings  of  the  great  age 
of  Pericles.2 

23.  The  Plan  of  a  Greek  House.  —  The  plan  of  a  Greek 
house  naturally  varies  infinitely  according  to  the  size  of  its 
land  plot,  the  size  of  the  owner's  family,  his  own  taste, 
and  wealth.  It  will  usually  be  rectangular,  with  the  nar- 
rower side  toward  the  street;  but  this  is  not  invariable. 
In  the  larger  houses  there  will  be  two  courts  (aulce),  one 
behind  the  other,  and  each  with  its  own  circuit  of  dependent 
chambers.  The  court  first  entered  will  be  the  Andronitis 
(the  Court  of  the  Men),  and  may  be  even  large  enough  to 
afford  a  considerable  promenade  for  exercise.  Around  the 
whole  of  the  open  space  run  lines  of  simple  columns,  and 
above  the  opening  swings  an  awning  if  the  day  is  very  hot. 
In  the  very  center  rises  a  small  stone  altar  with  a  statue  of 
Zeus  the  Protector  (Zeus  Herkelos),  where  the  father  of  the 

1  Xenophon,  Economics,  VII.  3. 

2  Very  probably  in   such  outlying  Greek  cities   as  Syracuse,  Taras 
(Tarentum),  etc.,  more  elegant  houses  could  be  found  than  any  at  this 
time  in  Athens. 


The  Athenian  House  and  Its  Furnishings    29 

family  will  from  time  to  time  offer  sacrifice,  acting  as  the 
priest  for  the  household.     Probably  already  on  the   altar 
there  has  been  laid 
a  fresh  garland ;  if 

L    ^  GARDEN 

not,  the  newcomers 


from     the     Agora 

have  now  fetched 

Y 

D                        Y 

one. 

The    Andronitis 

is  the  true  living 

Y 

[      Y 

room  of  the  house  : 

CfNAECONI^IS 

here  the  master  will 

Y 

0 

0 

Y 

receive  his  visitors, 

here      the      male 
slaves   will    work, 

T 

!B°            T' 

and  the  women  also 

AN  D  RON 

busy      themselves 

X 

X 

(promptly  retiring, 

however,     on    the 

0     0 

A               0 

appearance  of  mas- 

x   ; 

AJJDROJHTbS 

X 

culine     strangers). 

x    : 

:    x 

The  decoration   is 
very     plain  :     the 

X 

X 

C          X                X 

walls    are    neatly 

tinted   with    some 
.  .     ,     „          ,        ,            CONJECTURAL  PLAN   FOR  THE  HOUSE  OF  A 
kind  of  wash  ;  the                       WEALJHY  ATHENIAN> 

floor    is    Of    Simple                           A  =  Altar  of  Zeus  Herkeios. 

plaster,    or,    in    a                    B  -  Altar  of  Hestia. 

f        ,  ,                ,                                        C  =  Entrance  Hall. 

humbler        house,                    D  =  Kitchen. 

common          earth                    £,  ™  A"^h|™ 

pounded  hard.    Un-                           X  =  Rooms  for  the  Men. 
,         ,  ,              ,             ,                              Y  =  Rooms  for  the  Women. 

der  the   colonnade 

at  all  four  sides  open  the  various  chambers,  possibly  twelve 
in  all.  They  really  are  cells  or  compartments  rather  than 
rooms,  small  and  usually  lighted  only  by  their  doors.  Some 


30  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

are  used  for  storerooms,  some  for  sleeping  closets  for  the 
male  slaves  and  for  the  grown-up  sons  of  the  house,  if  there 
are  any.  Dark,  ill  ventilated,  and  most  scantily  furnished, 
it  is  no  wonder  the  average  Athenian  loves  the  Agora  better 
than  his  chamber. 

The  front  section  of  the  house  is  now  open  to  us,  but  it  is 
time  to  penetrate  farther.  Directly  behind  the  open  court 
is  a  sizable  chamber  forming  a  passage  to  the  inner  house. 
This  chamber  is  the  Andron,  the  dining  hall  and  probably 
the  most  pretentious  room  in  the  house.  Here  the  guests 
will  gather  for  the  dinner  party,  and  here  in  one  corner 
smokes  the  family  hearth,  once  the  real  fire  for  the  whole 
household  cooking,  but  now  merely  a  symbol  of  the  domestic 
worship.  It  is  simply  a  little  round  altar  sacred  to  Hestia, 
the  hearth  goddess,1  and  on  its  duly  rekindled  flame  little 
"  meat  offerings  and  drink  offerings  "  are  cast  at  every  meal, 
humble  or  elaborate. 

In  the  rear  wall  of  the  Andron  facing  the  Andronitis  is  a 
solid  door.  We  are  privileged  guests  indeed  if  we  pass  it. 
Only  the  father,  sons,  or  near  male  kinsmen  of  the  family 
are  allowed  to  go  inside,  for  it  leads  into  the  Gynceconitis, 
the  hall  of  the  women.  To  thrust  oneself  into  the  Gynse- 
conitis  of  even  a  fairly  intimate  friend  is  a  studied  insult  at 
Athens,  and  sure  to  be  resented  by  bodily  chastisement, 
social  ostracism,  and  a  ruinous  legal  prosecution.  The 
Gynseconitis  is  in  short  the  Athenian's  holy  of  holies.  Their 
women  are  forbidden  to  participate  in  so  much  of  public  life 
that  their  own  peculiar  world  is  especially  reserved  to  them. 
To  invade  this  world  is  not  bad  breeding ;  it  is  social  sacrilege. 

In  the  present  house,  the  home  of  a  well-to-do  family, 
the  Gynseconitis  forms  a  second  pillared  court  with  adja- 
cent rooms  of  substantially  the  same  size  and  shape  as  the 
Andronitis.  One  of  the  rooms  in  the  very  rear  is  proclaimed 
by  the  clatter  of  pots  and  pans  and  the  odor  of  a  frying 
1  Who  corresponds  to  the  Roman  goddess  Vesta. 


The  Athenian  House  and  Its  Furnishings     31 

turbot  to  be  the  kitchen ;  others  are  obviously  the  sleeping 
closets  of  the  slave  women.  On  the  side  nearest  to  the 
front  of  the  house,  but  opening  itself  upon  this  inner  court, 
is  at  least  one  bed  chamber  of  superior  size.  This  is  the 
Thalamos,  the  great  bedroom  of  the  master  and  mistress, 
and  here  are  kept  all  the  most  costly  furnishings  and  orna- 
ments in  the  house.  If  there  are  grown-up  unmarried 
daughters,  they  have  another  such  bedroom  (anti-thalamos) 
that  is  much  larger  than  the  cells  of  the  slave  girls.  Another 
special  room  is  set  apart  for  the  working  of  wool,  although 
this  chief  occupation  of  the  female  part  of  the  household 
is  likely  to  be  carried  on  in  the  open  inner  court  itself,  if  the 
weather  is  fine.  Here,  around  a  little  flower  bed,  slave  girls 
are  probably  spinning  and  embroidering,  young  children 
playing  or  quarreling,  and  a  tame  quail  is  hopping  about 
and  watching  for  a  crumb.  There  are  in  fact  a  great  many 
people  in  a  relatively  small  space;  everything  is  busy, 
chattering,  noisy,  and  confusing  to  an  intruding  stranger. 

24.  Modifications  in  the  Typical  Plan.  —  These  are  the 
essential  features  of  an  Athenian  house.  If  the  establish- 
ment is  a  very  pretentious  one,  there  may  be  a  small  garden 
in  the  rear  carefully  hedged  against  intruders  by  a  lofty 
wall.1  More  probably  the  small  size  of  the  house  lot  would 
force  simplifications  in  the  scheme  already  stated.  In  a 
house  one  degree  less  costly,  the  Gynseconitis  would  be  re- 
duced to  a  mere  series  of  rooms  shut  off  in  the  rear.  In 
more  simple  houses  still  there  would  be  no  interior  section 
of  the  house  at  all.  The  women  of  the  family  would  be 
provided  for  by  a  staircase  rising  from  the  main  hall  to  a 
second  story,  and  here  a  number  of  upper  chambers  would 
give  the  needful  seclusion.2  Of  course  as  one  goes  down 

1  Such  a  luxury  would  not  be  common  in  city  houses  ;    land  would 
be  too  valuable. 

2  Houses  of  more  than  two  stories  seem  to  have  been  unknown  in 
Athens.    The  city  lacked  the  towering  rookeries  of  tenements  (insula) 


32  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

the  social  scale,  the  houses  grow  simpler  and  simpler. 
Small  shops  are  set  into  the  street  wall  at  either  side  of 
the  entrance  door,  and  on  entering  one  finds  himself  in  a 
very  limited  and  utterly  dingy  court  with  a  few  dirty  com- 
partments opening  thence,  which  it  would  be  absurd  to 
dignify  by  the  name  of  "rooms."  Again  one  ceases  to 
wonder  that  the  male  Athenians  are  not  "  home  folk  "  and 
are  glad  to  leave  their  houses  to  the  less  fortunate  women ! 

25.  Rents  and  House  Values.  —  Most  native   Athenians 
own  their  houses.     Houses  indeed  can  be  rented,  usually 
by    the    foreign    traders    and    visitors    who    swarm    into 
the  city;  and  at  certain  busy  seasons  one  can  hire  "lodg- 
ings "  for  a  brief  sojourn.     Eents  are  not  unreasonable,  8  % 
or  8|%   of  the  value  of  the  house  being  counted  a  fair 
annual  return.     But  the  average  citizen  is  also  a  house- 
holder, because  forsooth  houses  are  very  cheap.     The  main 
cost  is  probably  for  the  land.     The  chief  material  used  in 
building,  sun-dried  brick,  is  very  unsubstantial,1  and  needs 
frequent  repairs,  but  is  not  expensive.     Demosthenes  the 
Orator  speaks  of  a  "little  house"  (doubtless  of  the  kind 
last  described)  worth  only  seven  minse  [about  $126.00], 
and  this  is  not  the  absolute  minimum.     A  very  rich  banker 
has  had  one  worth  100  minse  [about  $1800.00],  and  prob- 
ably this  is  close  to  the  maximum.     The  rent  question  is 
not  therefore  one  of  the  pressing  problems  at  Athens. 

26.  The  Simple  yet  Elegant  Furnishings  of  an  Athenian 
Home.  —  These  houses,  even  owned  by  the  lordly  rich,  are 
surprisingly  simple  in  their  furnishings.     The  accumulation 
of  heavy  furniture,  wall  decorations,  and  bric-a-brac  which 
will  characterize  the  dwellings  of  a  later  age,  would  be 

which  were  characteristic  of  Rome  ;  sometimes,  however,  a  house  seems 
to  have  been  shared  between  several  families. 

1  This  material  was  so  friable  and  poor  that  the  Greek  burglar  was 
known  as  a  "  Wall-digger."  It  did  not  pay  him  to  pick  a  lock  ;  it  was 
simpler  for  him  to  quarry  his  way  through  the  wall  with  a  pickax. 


The  Athenian  House  and  Its  Furnishings     33 

utterly  offensive  to  an  Athenian  —  contradicting  all  his  ideas 
of  harmony  and  "  moderation."  The  Athenian  house  lacks 
of  course  bookcases  and  framed  pictures.  It  probably  too 
lacks  any  genuine  closets.  Beds,  couches,  chairs  (usually 
backless),  stools,  footstools,  and  small  portable  tables, — 
these  alone  seem  in  evidence.  In  place  of  bureaus,  dressers, 
and  cupboards,  there  are  huge  chests,  heavy  and  carved,  in 
which  most  of  the  household  gear  can  be  locked  away.  In 
truth,  the  whole  style  of  Greek  household  life  expresses  that 
simplicity  on  which  we  have  already  commented.  Oriental 
carpets  are  indeed  met  with,  but  they  are  often  used  as  wall 
draperies  or  couch  covers  rather  than  upon  the  floors. 
Greek  costume  (see  p.  43)  is  so  simple  that  there  is  small 
need  for  elaborate  chests  of  drawers,  and  a  line  of  pegs 
upon  the  wall  cares  for  most  of  the  family  wardrobe. 

All  this  is  true ;  yet  what  furniture  one  finds  is  fash- 
ioned with  commendable  grace.  There  is  a  marked  absence 
of  heavy  and  unhealthful  upholstery;  but  the  simple  bed 
(four  posts  sustaining  a  springless  cushion  stuffed  with 
feathers  or  wool)  has  its  woodwork  adorned  with  carving 
which  is  a  true  mean  betwixt  the  too  plain1  and  the  too 
ornate;  and  the  whole  bed  is  given  an  elegant  effect  by 
the  magnificently  embroidered  scarlet  tapestry  which  over- 
spreads it.  The  lines  of  the  legs  of  the  low  wooden  tables 
which  are  used  at  the  dinner  parties  will  be  a  lesson  (if  we 
have  time  to  study  them)  upon  just  proportion  and  the 
value  of  subtle  curves.  Moreover,  the  different  household 
vessels,  the  stone  and  bronze  lamps,  the  various  table  dishes, 
even  the  common  pottery  put  to  the  humblest  uses,  all  have 
a  beauty,  a  chaste  elegance,  a  saving  touch  of  deft  orna- 
mentation, which  transforms  them  out  of  "  kitchen  ware " 
into  works  of  art.  Those  black  water  pots  covered  with 
red-clay  figures  which  the  serving  maids  are  bearing  so 
carelessly  into  the  scullery  at  the  screaming  summons  of 
the  cook  will  be  some  day  perchance  the  pride  of  a  museum, 


34  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

and  teach  a  later  age  that  costly  material  and  aristocratic 
uses  are  not  needful  to  make  an  article  supremely  beautiful. 
Of  course  the  well-to-do  Athenian  is  proud  to  possess 
certain  "valuables."  He  will  have  a  few  silver  cups  ele- 
gantly chased,  and  at  least  one  diner's  couch  in  the  andron 
will  be  made  of  rare  imported  wood,  and  be  inlaid  with  gilt 
or  silver.  On  festival  days  the  house  will  be  hung  with 
brilliant  and  elaborately  wrought  tapestries  which  will 
suddenly  emerge  from  the  great  chests.  Also,  despite 
frowns  and  criticisms,  the  custom  is  growing  of  decorating 
one's  walls  with  bright-lined  frescoes  after  the  manner  of 
the  Agora  colonnades.  In  the  course  of  a  few  generations 
the  homes  of  the  wealthier  Greeks  will  come  to  resemble 
those  of  the  Romans,  such  as  a  later  age  has  resurrected 
at  Pompeii. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  WOMEN  OF  ATHENS. 

27.  How  Athenian  Marriages  are  Arranged.  —  Over  this 
typical  Athenian  home  reigns  the  wife  of  the  master.  Public 
opinion  frowns  upon  celibacy,  and  there  are  relatively  few 
unmarried  men  in  Athens.  An  Athenian  girl  is  brought  up 
with  the  distinct  expectation  of  matrimony.1  Opportunities 
for  a  romance  almost  never  will  come  her  way ;  but  it  is  the 
business  of  her  parents  to  find  her  a  suitable  husband.  If 
they  are  kindly  people  of  good  breeding,  their  choice  is  not 
likely  to  be  a  very  bad  one.  If  they  have  difficulties,  they  can 
engage  a  professional  "  matchmaker,"  a  shrewd  old  woman 
who,  for  a  fee,  will  hunt  out  an  eligible  young  man.  Mar- 
riage is  contracted  primarily  that  there  may  be  legitimate 
children  to  keep  up  the  state  and  to  perpetuate  the  family. 
That  the  girl  should  have  any  will  of  her  own  in  the  matter 
is  almost  never  thought  of.  Very  probably  she  has  never 
seen  "  Him,"  save  when  they  both  were  marching  in  a  pub- 
lic religious  procession,  or  at  some  rare  family  gathering 
(a  marriage  or  a  funeral)  when  there  were  outside  guests. 
Besides  she  will  be  "given  away"  when  only  about  fifteen, 
and  probably  has  formed  no  intelligent  opinion  or  even 
prejudices  on  the  subject. 

If  the  young  man  (who  will  marry  at  about  thirty)  is  inde- 
pendent in  life,  the  negotiations  will  be  with  him  directly. 
If  he  is  still  dependent  on  the  paternal  allowance,  the  two 

1  The  vile  custom  of  exposing  unwelcome  female  babies  probably  cre- 
ated a  certain  preponderance  of  males  in  Attica,  and  made  it  relatively 
easy  to  marry  off  a  desirable  young  girl. 
35 


36  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

sets  of  parents  will  usually  arrange  matters  themselves, 
and  demand  only  the  formal  consent  of  the  prospective 
bridegroom.  He  will  probably  accept  promptly  this  bride 
whom  his  father  has  selected ;  if  not,  he  risks  a  stormy  en- 
counter with  his  parents,  and  will  finally  capitulate.  He 
has  perhaps  never  seen  "  Her,"  and  can  only  hope  things 
are  for  the  best;  and  after  all  she  is  so  young  that  his 
friends  tell  him  that  he  can  train  her  to  be  very  useful  and 
obedient  if  he  will  only  take  pains.  The  parents,  or,  failing 
them,  the  guardians,  adjust  the  dowry — the  lump  sum 
which  the  bride  will  bring  with  her  towards  the  new  estab- 
lishment.1 Many  maxims  enjoin  "marry  only  your  equal 
in  fortune."  The  poor  man  who  weds  an  heiress  will  not 
be  really  his  own  master ;  the  dread  of  losing  the  big  dowry 
will  keep  him  in  perpetual  bondage  to  her  whims. 

28.  Lack  of  Sentiment  in  Marriages. — Sometimes  mar- 
riages are  arranged  in  which  any  sentiment  is  obviously  pro- 
hibited. A  father  can  betroth  his  daughter  by  will  to  some 
kinsman,  who  is  to  take  her  over  as  his  bride  when  he  takes 
over  the  property.  A  husband  can  bequeath  his  wife  to 
some  friend  who  is  likely  to  treat  her  and  the  orphan  chil- 
dren with  kindness.  Such  affairs  occur  every  day.  Do  the 
Athenian  women  revolt  at  these  seemingly  degrading  condi- 
tions, wherein  they  are  handed  around  like  slaves,  or  even 
cattle  ?  — According  to  the  tragic  poets  they  do.  Sophocles 
(in  the  Tereus)  makes  them  lament, 

"  We  women  are  nothing ; — happy  indeed  is  our  childhood, 
for  then  we  are  thoughtless ;  but  when  we  attain  maiden- 
hood, lo !  we  are  driven  away  from  our  homes,  sold  as 
merchandise,  and  compelled  to  marry  and  say  '  All's  well.' " 

Euripides  is  even  more  bitter  in  his  Medea :  — 

1The  dowry  was  a  great  protection  to  the  bride.  If  her  husband 
divorced  her  (as  by  law  he  might),  the  dowry  must  be  repaid  to  her 
guardians  with  18  per  cent,  interest. 


The  Women  of  Athens  37 

Surely  of  creatures  that  have  life  and  wit, 
We  women  are  of  all  things  wretchedest, 
Who  first  must  needs,  as  buys  the  highest  bidder, 
Thus  buy  a  husband,  and  our  body's  master.1 

29.  Athenian  Marriage  Rites.  —  However,  thus  runs  public 
custom.  At  about  fifteen  the  girl  must  leave  her  mother's 
fostering  care  and  enter  the  house  of  the  stranger.  The 
wedding  is,  of  course,  a  great  ceremony;  and  here,  if  no- 
where else,  Athenian  women  can  surely  prepare,  flutter, 
and  ordain  to  their  heart's  content.  After  the  somewhat  stiff 
and  formal  betrothal  before  witnesses  (necessary  to  give 
legal  effect  to  the  marriage),  the  actual  wedding  will  prob- 
ably take  place,  —  perhaps  in  a  few  days,  perhaps  with  a 
longer  wait  till  the  favorite  marriage  month  Gamelion 
[January].2  Then  on  a  lucky  night  of  the  full  moon  the 
bride,  having,  no  doubt  tearfully,  dedicated  to  Artemis  her 
childish  toys,  will  be  decked  in  her  finest  and  will  come 
down,  all  veiled,  into  her  father's  torchlit  aula,  swarming 
now  with  guests.  Here  will  be  at  last  that  strange  master 
of  her  fate,  the  bridegroom  and  his  best  man  (paranymphos). 
Her  father  will  offer  sacrifice  (probably  a  lamb),  and  after 
the  sacrifice  everybody  will  feast  on  the  flesh  of  the  victim  ; 
and  also  share  a  large  flat  cake  of  pounded  sesame  seeds 
roasted  and  mixed  with  honey.  As  the  evening  advances 
the  wedding  car  will  be  outside  the  door.  The  mother 
hands  the  bride  over  to  the  groom,  who  leads  her  to  the 
chariot,  and  he  and  the  groomsman  sit  down,  one  on 
either  side,  while  with  torches  and  song  the  friends  go 
with  the  car  in  jovial  procession  to  the  house  of  the  young 
husband. 

"Ho,  Hymen!     Ho,  Hymen  !     Hymenaeos  !    lo  !  " 

So  rings  the  refrain  of  the  marriage  song;    and  all  the 

1  Way's  translation. 

2  This  winter  month  was  sacred  to  Hera,  the  marriage  guardian. 


38  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

doorways  and  street  corners  are  crowded  with  onlookers 
to  shout  fair  wishes  and  good-natured  raillery. 

At  the  groom's  house  there  is  a  volley  of  confetti  to 
greet  the  happy  pair.  The  bride  stops  before  the  threshold 
to  eat  a  quince.1  There  is  another  feast,  —  possibly  riotous 
fun  and  hard  drinking.  At  last  the  bride  is  led,  still 
veiled,  to  the  perfumed  and  flower-hung  marriage  chamber. 
The  doors  close  behind  the  married  pair.  Their  friends 
sing  a  merry  rollicking  catch  outside,  the  Epithalamium. 
The  great  day  has  ended.  The  Athenian  girl  has  experi- 
enced the  chief  transition  of  her  life. 

30.  The  Mental  Horizon  of  Athenian  Women.  —  Despite 
the  suggestions  in  the  poets,  probably  the  normal  Athenian 
woman  is  neither  degraded  nor  miserable.  If  she  is  a  girl 
of  good  ancestry  and  the  usual  bringing  up,  she  has  never 
expected  any  other  conditions  than  these.  She  knows  that 
her  parents  care  for  her  and  have  tried  to  secure  for  her  a 
husband  who  will  be  her  guardian  and  solace  when  they  are 
gone.  Xenophon's  ideal  young  husband,  Ischomachus,  says 
he  married  his  wife  at  the  age  of  fifteen.2  She  had  been 
"  trained  to  see  and  to  hear  as  little  as  possible  " ;  but  her 
mother  had  taught  her  to  have  a  sound  control  of  her 
appetite  and  of  all  kinds  of  self-indulgence,  to  take  wool 
and  to  make  a  dress  of  it,  and  to  manage  the  slave  maids  in 
their  spinning  tasks.  She  was  at  first  desperately  afraid  of 
her  husband,  and  it  was  some  time  before  he  had  "  tamed  " 
her  sufficiently  to  discuss  their  household  problems  freely. 
Then  Ischomachus  made  her  join  with  him  in  a  prayer  to 
the  gods  that  "  he  might  teach  and  she  might  learn  all  that 
could  conduce  to  their  joint  happiness  " ;  after  which  they 
took  admirable  counsel  together,  and  her  tactful  and  ex- 

1  The  symbol  of  fertility. 

2 See  Xenophon's  "The  Economist,"  VII  ff.  The  more  pertinent  pas- 
sages are  quoted  in  W.  S.  Daris's  Readings  in  Ancient  History,  vol.  I,  pp. 
265-271. 


The  Women  of  Athens  39 

perienced   husband   (probably   more   than  twice   her    age) 
trained  her  into  a  model  housewife. 

31.  The  Honor  paid  Womanhood  in  Athens.  —  Obviously 
from  a  young  woman  with  a  limited  intellectual  horizon 
the  Athenian  gentleman  can  expect  no  mental  companion- 
ship ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  he  can  live  in  the  world  as 
a  keenly  intelligent  being,  and  not  come  to  realize  the 
enormous  value  of  the  "woman  spirit"  as  it  affects  all 
things  good.  Hera,  Artemis,  Aphrodite,  above  all  Pallas- 
Athena, —  city-warder  of  Athens,  —  who  are  they  all  but 
idealizations  of  that  peculiar  genius  which  wife,  mother, 
and  daughter  show  forth  every  day  in  their  homes  ?  An 
Athenian  never  allows  his  wife  to  visit  the  Agora.  She 
cannot  indeed  go  outside  the  house  without  his  express  per- 
mission, and  only  then  attended  by  one  or  two  serving 
maids;  public  opinion  will  likewise  frown  upon  the  man 
who  allowed  his  wife  to  appear  in  public  too  freely1; 
nevertheless  there  are  compensations.  Within  her  home 
the  Athenian  woman  is  within  her  kingdom.  Her  husband 
will  respect  her,  because  he  will  respect  himself.  Brutal 
and  harsh  he  may  possibly  be,  but  that  is  because  he  is 
also  brutal  and  harsh  in  his  outside  dealings.  In  extreme 
cases  an  outraged  wife  can  sue  for  divorce  before  the 
archon.  And  very  probably  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a 
hundred  the  Athenian  woman  is  contented  with  her  lot: 
partly  because  she  knows  of  nothing  better ;  partly  because 
she  has  nothing  concrete  whereof  to  complain. 

Doubtless  it  is  because  an  Athenian  house  is  a  "little 
oasis  of  domesticity,"  tenderly  guarded  from  all  insult,  —  a 
miniature  world  whose  joys  and  sorrows  are  not  to  be 

1  Hypereides,  the  orator,  says,  "  The  woman  who  goes  out  of  her  own 
home  ought  to  be  of  such  an  age  that  when  men  meet  her,  the  question 
is  not '  Who  is  her  husband  ? '  but  '  "Whose  mother  is  she? '  "  Pericles,  in 
the  great  funeral  oration  put  in  his  mouth  by  Thucydides,  says  that  the 
best  women  are  those  who  are  talked  of  for  good  or  ill  the  very  least 


40  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

shared  by  the  outer  universe,  —  that  the  Athenian  treats  the 
private  affairs  of  his  family  as  something  seldom  to  be 
shared,  even  with  an  intimate  friend.  Of  individual  women 
we  hear  and  see  little  in  Athens,  but  of  noble  womanhood 
a  great  deal.  By  a  hundred  tokens,  delightful  vase  paint- 
ings, noble  monuments,  poetic  myths,  tribute  is  paid  to  the 
self-mastery,  the  self-forgetfulness,  the  courage,  the  gentle- 
ness "of  the  wives  and  mothers  who  have  made  Athens 
the  beacon  of  Hellas " ;  and  there  is  one  witness  better 
than  all  the  rest.  Along  the  "Street  of  the  Tombs,"  by 
the  gate  of  the  city,  runs  the  long  row  of  stelse  (funeral 
monuments),  inimitable  and  chaste  memorials  to  the  be- 
loved dead ;  and  here  we  meet,  many  times  over,  the  por- 
trayal of  a  sorrow  too  deep  for  common  lament,  the  sorrow 
for  the  lovely  and  gracious  figures  who  have  passed  into 
the  great  Mystery.  Along  the  Street  of  the  Tombs  the 
wives  and  mothers  of  Athens  are  honored  not  less  than  the 
wealthy,  the  warriors,  or  the  statesmen. 

32.  The  Sphere  of  Action  of  Athenian  Women.  —  Assuredly 
the  Athenian  house  mother  cannot  match  her  husband  in 
discussing  philosophy  or  foreign  politics,  but  she  has  her 
own  home  problems  and  confronts  them  well.  A  dozen  or 
twenty  servants  must  be  kept  busy.  Prom  her,  all  the 
young  children  must  get  their  first  education,  and  the  girls 
probably  everything  they  are  taught  until  they  are  married. 
Even  if  she  does  not  meet  many  men,  she  will  strive  val- 
iantly to  keep  the  good  opinion  of  her  husband.  If  she  has 
shapely  feet  and  hands  (whereon  great  stress  is  laid  in 
Hellas),  she  will  do  her  uttermost  to  display  them  to  the 
greatest  advantage l ;  and  she  has,  naturally,  plenty  of  other 
vanities  (see  p.  49).  Her  husband  has  turned  over  to  her 
the  entire  management  of  the  household.  This  means 

1  The  custom  of  wearing  sandals  instead  of  shoes  of  course  aided  the 
developing  of  beautiful  feet. 


The  Women  of  Athens 


41 


that  if  he  is  an  easy-going  man,  she  soon  understands  his 
home  business  far  better  than  he  does  himself,  and  really 
has  him  quite  at  her  mercy.  Between  caring  for  her  hus- 
band's wants,  nursing  the  sick  slaves,  acting  as  arbitress  in 
their  inevitable  disputes,  keeping  a  constant  watch  upon 
the  storeroom,  and  finally  in  attending  to  the  manufacture 
of  nearly  all  the  family  clothing,  she  is  not  likely  to  rust 
in  busy  idleness, 
or  sit  complaining 
of  her  lot.  At  the 
many  great  public 
festivals  she  is 
always  at  least 
an  onlooker  and 
often  she  marches 
proudly  in  the  mag- 
nificent proces- 
sions. She  is 
allowed  to  attend 
the  tragedies  in 
the  theater.1  Prob- 
ably, too,  the 
family  will  own 
a  country  farm, 
and  spend  a  part 

of  the  year  thereon.  Here  she  will  be  allowed  a  delightful 
freedom  of  movement,  impossible  in  the  closely  built  city. 
All  in  all,  then,  she  will  complain  of  too  much  enforced 
activity  rather  than  of  too  much  idleness. 

Nevertheless  our  judgment  upon  the  Athenian  women  is 
mainly  one  of  regret.  Even  if  not  discontented  with  their 

l  Not  the  comedies  — they  were  too  broad  for  refined  women.  But  the 
mere  fact  that  Athenian  ladies  seem  to  have  been  allowed  to  attend  the 
tragedies  is  a  tribute  to  their  intellectual  capacities.  Only  an  acute  and 
intelligent  mind  can  follow  ^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides. 


SPINNING. 


42  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

lot,  they  are  not  realizing  the  full  possibilities  which  Provi- 
dence has  placed  within  the  reach  of  womanhood,  much 
less  the  womanhood  of  the  mothers  of  the  warriors,  poets, 
orators,  and  other  immortals  of  Athens.  One  great  side  of 
civilization  which  the  city  of  Athens  might  develop  and 
realize  is  left  unrealized.  This  civilization  of  Athens  is  too 
masculine  ;  it  is  therefore  one  sided,  and  in  so  far  it  does 
not  realize  that  ideal  "Harmony"  which  is  the  average 
Athenian's  boast. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
ATHENIAN  COSTUME. 

33.  The  General  Nature  of  Greek  Dress.  —  In  every  age  the 
important  kingdom  of  dress  has  been  reserved  for  the  pe- 
culiar sovereignty  of  woman.  This  is  true  in  Athens, 
though  not  perhaps  to  the  extent  of  later  ages.  Still  an 
Athenian  lady  will  take  an  interest  in  "purple  and  fine 
linen"  far  exceeding  that  of  her  husband,  and  where  is 
there  a  more  fitting  place  than  this  in  which  to  answer  for 
an  Athenian,  the  ever  important  question  "  wherewithal 
shall  I  be  clothed"  ? 

Once  again  the  Athenian  climate  comes  in  as  a  factor, 
this  time  in  the  problem  of  wardrobe.  Two  general  styles 
of  garment  have  divided  the  allegiance  of  the  world,  —  the 
clothes  that  are  put  on  and  the  clothes  that  are  wrapped 
around.  The  former  style,  with  its  jackets,  trousers,  and 
leggins,  is  not  absolutely  unknown  to  the  Athenians, — 
their  old  enemies,  the  Persians,  wear  these1;  but  such 
clumsy,  inelegant  garments  are  despised  and  ridiculed  as 
fit  only  for  the  "Barbarians"  who  use  them.  They  are 
not  merely  absurdly  homely ;  they  cannot  even  be  thrown 
off  promptly  in  an  emergency,  leaving  the  glorious  human 
form  free  to  put  forth  any  noble  effort.  The  Athenians 
wear  the  wrapped  style  of  garments,  which  are,  in  final 
analysis,  one  or  two  large  square  pieces  of  cloth  flung  skil- 
fully around  the  body  and  secured  by  a  few  well-placed 

iThe  Persians  no  doubt  learned  to  use  this  style  of  garment  during 
their  life  on  the  cold,  windy  steppes  of  Upper  Asia,  before  they  won  their 
empire  in  the  more  genial  south. 

43 


44  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

pins.  This  costume  is  infinitely  adjustable;  it  can  be  ex- 
panded into  flowing  draperies  or  contracted  into  an  easy 
working  dress  by  a  few  artful  twitches.  It  can  be  nicely 
adjusted  to  meet  the  inevitable  sense  of  "  beauty  "  bred  in 
the  bone  of  every  Athenian.  True,  on  the  cold  days  of 
midwinter  the  wearers  will  go  about  shivering;  but  cold 
days  are  the  exception,  warm  days  the  rule,  in  genial  Attica.1 

This  simplicity  of  costume  has  produced  certain  impor- 
tant results.  There  are  practically  no  tailors  in  Athens, 
only  cloth  merchants,  bleachers,  and  dyers.  Again  fashions 
(at  least  in  the  actual  cut  of  the  garments)  seldom  change. 
A  cloak  that  was  made  in  the  days  of  Alcibiades  (say 
420  B.C.)  can  be  worn  with  perfect  propriety  to-day  (360  B.C.) 
if  merely  it  has  escaped  without  severe  use  or  moth  holes. 
It  may  be  more  usual  this  year  to  wear  one's  garments  a 
little  higher  or  a  little  more  trailing  than  formerly ;  but  that 
is  simply  a  matter  for  a  shifting  of  the  pins  or  of  the  girdle. 

As  a  result,  the  Athenian  seldom  troubles  about  his 
"  spring  "  or  "  winter  "  suit.  His  simple  woolen  garments 
wear  a  very  long  time;  and  they  have  often  been  slowly 
and  laboriously  spun  and  woven  by  his  wife  and  her  slave 
girls.  Of  course  even  a  poor  man  will  try  to  have  a  few 
changes  of  raiment,  —  something  solid  and  coarse  for  every 
day,  something  of  finer  wool  and  gayer  color  for  public  and 
private  festivals.  The  rich  man  will  have  a  far  larger 
wardrobe,  and  will  pride  himself  on  not  being  frequently 
seen  in  the  same  dress ;  yet  even  his  outfit  will  seem  very 
meager  to  the  dandies  of  a  later  age. 

34.   The  Masculine  Chiton,  Himation,  and  Chlamys.  —  The 

lrrhe  whole  civilization  of  Athens  was,  of  course,  based  on  a  climate  in 
which  artificial  heat  would  be  very  little  needed.  A  pot  of  glowing  char- 
coal might  be  used  to  remove  the  chill  of  a  room  in  the  very  coldest 
weather.  Probably  an  Athenian  would  have  regarded  a  climate  in  which 
furnace  heat  was  demanded  nearly  eight  months  in  the  year  as  wholly 
unfit  for  civilized  man. 


Athenian  Costume  45 

essential  garments  of  an  Athenian  man  are  only  two  —  the 
chiton  and  the  himation.  The  chiton  may  be  briefly  de- 
scribed as  an  oblong  of  woolen  cloth  large  enough  to  wrap 
around  the  body  somewhat  closely,  from  the  neck  down  to 
just  above  the  knees.  The  side  left  open  is  fastened  by 
fibulae  —  elegantly  wrought  pins  perhaps  of  silver  or  gold ; 
in  the  closed  side  there  is  a  slit  for  the  arm.  There  is  a 
girdle,  and,  if  one  wishes,  the  skirt  of  the  chiton  may  be 
pulled  up  through  it,  and  allowed  to  hang  down  in  front, 
giving  the  effect  of  a  blouse.  The  man  of  prompt  action, 
the  soldier,  traveler,  worker,  is  "  well  girded,"  —  his  chiton 
is  drawn  high,  but  the  deliberate  old  gentleman  who  pa- 
rades the  Agora,  discussing  poetry  or  statecraft,  has  his 
chiton  falling  almost  to  a  trailing  length.  Only  occasion- 
ally short  sleeves  are  added  to  this  very  simple  garment; 
they  are  considered  effeminate,  and  are  not  esteemed.  If 
one's  arms  get  cold,  one  can  protect  them  by  pulling  up  the 
skirt,  and  wrapping  the  arms  in  the  blouse  thus  created. 

An  Athenian  gentleman  when  he  is  in  the  house  wears 
nothing  but  his  chiton ;  it  is  even  proper  for  him  to  be  seen 
wearing  nothing  else  upon  the  streets,  but  then  more  usually 
he  will  add  an  outer  cloak,  —  his  himation. 

The  himation  is  even  simpler  than  the  chiton.  It  is 
merely  a  generous  oblong  woolen  shawl.  There  are  innu- 
merable ways  of  arranging  it  according  to  the  impulse  of  the 
moment ;  but  usually  it  has  to  be  worn  without  pins,  and 
that  involves  wrapping  it  rather  tightly  around  the  body, 
and  keeping  one  of  the  hands  confined  to  hold  the  cloak  in 
place.  That  is  no  drawback,  however,  to  a  genteel  wearer. 
It  proclaims  to  the  world  that  he  does  not  have  to  work, 
wearing  his  hands  for  a  living;  therefore  he  can  keep  them 
politely  idle.1  The  adjustment  of  the  himation  is  a  work 

iWorkiugmen  often  wore  no  himation,  and  had  a  kind  of  chiton  (an 
exomis)  which  was  especially  arranged  to  leave  them  with  free  use  of 
their  arms. 


46  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

of  great  art.  A  rich  man  will  often  have  a  special  slave 
whose  business  it  is  to  arrange  the  hang  and  the  folds  be- 
fore his  master  moves  forth  in  public ;  and  woe  to  the  care- 
less fellow  if  the  effect*  fails  to  display  due  elegance  and 
dignity ! 

There  is  a  third  garment  sometimes  worn  by  Athenians. 
Young  men  who  wish  to  appear  very  active,  and  genuine 
travelers,  also  wear  a  chlamys,  a  kind  of  circular  mantle  or 
cape  which  swings  jauntily  over  their  shoulders,  and  will 
give  good  protection  in  foul  weather. 

There  are  almost  no  other  masculine  garments.  No 
shirts  (unless  the  chiton  be  one),  no  underwear.  In  their 
costume,  as  in  so  many  things  else,  the  Athenians  exemplify 
their  oft-praised  virtue  of  simplicity. 

35.  The  Dress  of  the  Women.  —  The  dress  of  the  women 
is  like  that  of  the  men,  but  differs,  of  course,  in  complexity. 
They  also  have  a  chiton,1  which  is  more  elaborately  made, 
especially  in  the  arrangement  of  the  blouse  ;  and  probably 
there  is  involved  a  certain  amount  of  real  sewing2;  not 
merely  of  pinning. 

Greater  care  is  needed  in  the  adjustment  of  the  "  zone  " 
(girdle),  and  half  sleeves  are  the  rule  with  women,  while 
full  sleeves  are  not  unknown.  A  Greek  lady  again  cannot 
imitate  her  husband,  and  appear  in  public  in  her  chiton 
only.  A  himation,  deftly  adjusted,  is  absolutely  indispen- 
sable whenever  she  shows  herself  outside  the  house. 

These  feminine  garments  are  all,  as  a  rule,  more  elabo- 
rately embroidered,  more  adorned  with  fringes  and  tassels, 
than  those  of  the  men.  In  arranging  her  dress  the  Athe- 
nian lady  is  not  bound  by  the  rigid  precepts  of  fashion. 

1This  robe  was  sometimes  known  by  the  Homeric  name  of  peplos. 

3  Probably  with  almost  all  Greek  garments  the  main  use  of  the  needle 
was  in  the  embroidery  merely,  or  in  the  darning  of  holes  and  rents.  It 
was  by  no  means  an  essential  in  the  real  manufacture. 


Athenian  Costume  47 

Every  separate  toilette  is  an  opportunity  for  a  thousand 
little  niceties  and  coquetries  which  she  understands  exceed- 
ingly well.  If  there  is  the  least  excuse  for  an  expedition 
outside  the  house,  her  ladyship's  bevy  of  serving  maids  will 
have  a  serious  time  of  it.  While  their  mistress  cools  her- 
self with  a  huge  peacock-feather  fan,  one  maid  is  busy  over 
her  hair;  a  second  holds  the  round  metallic  mirror  before 
her ;  a  third  stands  ready  to  extend  the  jewel  box  whence 
she  can  select  finger  rings,  earrings,  gold  armlets,  chains 
for  her  neck  and  hair,  as  well  as  the  indispensable  brooches 
whereon  the  stability  of  the  whole  costume  depends. 
When  she  rises  to  have  her  himation  draped  around  her, 
the  directions  she  gives  reveal  her  whole  bent  and  charac- 
ter. A  dignified  and  modest  matron  will  have  it  folded 
loosely  around  her  entire  person,  covering  both  arms  and 
hands,  and  even  drawing  it  over  her  head,  leaving  eyes  and 
nose  barely  visible.  Younger  ladies  will  draw  it  close 
around  the  body  so  as  to  show  the  fine  lines  of  their  waists 
and  shoulders.  And  in  the  summer  heat  the  himation  (for 
the  less  prudish)  will  become  a  light  shawl  floating  loose 
and  free  over  the  shoulders,  or  only  a  kind  of  veil  drawn 
so  as  to  now  conceal,  now  reveal,  the  face. 

Children  wear  miniature  imitations  of  the  dress  of  their 
elders.  Boys  are  taught  to  toughen  their  bodies  by  refrain- 
ing from  thick  garments  in  cold  weather.  In  hot  weather 
they  can  frequently  be  seen  playing  about  with  very  little 
clothing  at  all ! 

36.  Footwear  and  Head  Coverings.  —  Upon  his  feet  the 
Athenian  frequently  wears  nothing.  He  goes  about  his 
home  barefoot;  and  not  seldom  he  enjoys  the  delight  of 
running  across  the  open  greensward  with  his  unsandaled 
feet  pressing  the  springing  ground ;  but  normally  when  he 
walks  abroad,  he  will  wear  sandals,  a  simple  solid  pair  of 
open  soles  tied  to  his  feet  by  leather  thongs  passing  between 


48  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

the  toes.  For  hard  country  walking  and  for  hunting  there 
is  something  like  a  high  leather  boot,1  though  doubtless  these 
are  counted  uncomfortable  for  ordinary  wear.  As  for  the 
sandals,  simple  as  they  are,  the  Attic  touch  of  elegance  is  often 
upon  them.  Upon  the  thongs  of  the  sandals  there  is  usually 
worked  a  choice  pattern,  in  some  brilliant  color  or  even  gilt. 

The  Athenians  need  head  coverings  even  less  than  foot- 
gear. Most  of  them  have  thick  hair  ;  baldness  is  an  uncom- 
mon affliction  ;  everybody  is  trained  to  walk  under  the  full 
glare  of  Helios  with  little  discomfort.  Of  course  certain 
trades  require  hats,  e.g.  sailors  who  can  be  almost  identified 
by  their  rimless  felt  caps.  Genteel  travelers  will  wear 
wide-brimmed  hats  ;  but  the  ladies,  as  a  rule,  have  no  head- 
gear besides  their  tastefully  arranged  hair,  although  they 
will  partly  atone  for  the  lack,  by  having  a  maid  walk  just 
behind  them  with  a  gorgeously  variegated  parasol. 

37.  The  Beauty  of  the  Greek  Dress.  —  Greek  costume, 
then,  is  something  fully  sharing  in  the  national  character- 
istics of  harmony,  simplicity,  individuality.  It  is  easy  to 
see  how  admirably  this  style  of  dress  is  adapted  to  furnish 
ever  ready  models  and  inspiration  for  the  sculptor.2  Un- 
conventional in  its  arrangement,  it  is  also  unconventional  in 
its  color.  A  masculine  crowd  is  not  one  unmitigated  swarm 
of  black  and  dark  grays  or  browns,  as  with  the  multitudes 
of  a  later  age.  On  the  contrary,  white  is  counted  theoreti- 
cally the  most  becoming  color  on  any  common  occasion  for 
either  sex ; 3  and  on  festival  days  even  grave  and  elderly 
men  will  appear  with  chitons  worked  with  brilliant  em- 

1  Actors,  too,  wore  a  leather  boot  with  high  soles  to  give  them  extra 
height  —  the  cothurnus. 

2  "  The  chiton  became  the  mirror  of  the  body,"  said  the  late  writer, 
Achilles  Tatius. 

8  No  doubt  farmers  and  artisans  either  wore  garments  of  a  non-com- 
mittal brown,  or,  more  probably,  let  their  originally  white  costume  get 
utterly  dirty. 


Athenian  Costume  49 

broidery  along  the  borders,  and  with  splendid  hiraatia  of 
some  single  clear  hue — violet,  red,  purple,  blue,  or  yellow. 
As  for  the  costume  of  the  groom  at  a  wedding,  it  is  far  in- 
deed from  the  "  conventional  black  "  of  more  degenerate 
days.  He  may  well  wear  a  purple-edged  white  chiton  of 
fine  Milesian  wool,  a  brilliant  scarlet  himation,  sandals  with 
blue  thongs  and  clasps  of  gold,  and  a  chaplet  of  myrtle  and 
violets.  His  intended  bride  is  led  out  to  him  in  even  more 
dazzling  array.  Her  white  sandal-thongs  are  embroidered 
with  emeralds,  rubies,  and  pearls.  Around  her  neck  is  a 
necklace  of  gold  richly  set,  —  and  she  has  magnificent 
golden  armlets  and  pearl  eardrops.  Her  hair  is  fragrant 
with  Oriental  nard,  and  is  bound  by  a  purple  fillet  and  a 
chaplet  of  roses.  Her  ungloved  fingers  shine  with  jewels 
and  rings.  Her  main  costume  is  of  a  delicate  saffron,  and 
over  it  all,  like  a  cloud,  floats  the  silvery  tissue  of  the  nup- 
tial veil. 

38.  Greek  Toilet  Frivolities.  —  From  the  standpoint  of  in- 
herent fitness  and  beauty,  this  Athenian  costume  is  the 
noblest  ever  seen  by  the  world.  Naturally  there  are  ill-ad- 
vised creatures  who  do  not  share  the  good  taste  of  their  fel- 
lows, or  who  try  to  deceive  the  world  and  themselves  as  to 
the  ravages  of  that  arch-enemy  of  the  Hellene,  —  Old  Age. 
Athenian  women  especially  (though  the  men  are  not  with- 
out their  follies)  are  sometimes  fond  of  rouge,  false  hair, 
and  the  like.  Auburn  hair  is  especially  admired,  and  many 
fine  dames  bleach  their  tresses  in  a  caustic  wash  to  obtain 
it.  The  styles  of  feminine  hair  dressing  seem  to  change 
from  decade  to  decade  much  more  than  the  arrangements  of 
the  garments.  Now  it  is  plaited  and  crimped  hair  that  is 
in  vogue,  now  the  more  beautiful  "  Psyche-knots "  ;  yet 
even  in  their  worst  moods  the  Athenian  women  exhibit  a 
sweet  reasonableness.  They  have  not  yet  fallen  into  the 
clutches  of  the  Parisian  hairdresser. 


50  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

The  poets,  of  course,  ridicule  the  foibles  of  the  fair  sex.1 
Says  one :  — 

The  golden  hair  Nikylla  wears 

Is  hers,  who  would  have  thought  it  ? 

She  swears  'tis  hers,  and  true  she  swears 
For  I  know  where  she  bought  it  ! 

And  again :  — 

You  give  your  cheeks  a  rosy  stain, 
With  washes  dye  your  hair ; 
But  paint  and  washes  both  are  vain 
To  give  a  youthful  air. 
An  art  so  fruitless  then  forsake, 
Which,  though  you  much  excel  in, 
You  never  can  contrive  to  make 
Old  Hecuba  young  Helen. 

But  enough  of  such  scandals !  All  the  best  opinion  — 
masculine  and  feminine  —  frowns  on  these  follies.  Let  us 
think  of  the  simple,  dignified,  and  aesthetically  noble  cos- 
tume of  the  Athenians  as  not  the  least  of  their  examples  to 
another  age. 

1  Translated  in  Falke's  Greece  and  Rome  (English  translation,  p.  69). 
These  quotations  probably  date  from  a  time  considerably  later  than  the 
hypothetical  period  of  this  sketch  ;  but  they  are  perfectly  proper  to  apply 
to  conditions  in  360  B.C. 


CHAPTER   VII. 
THE  SLAVES. 

39.  Slavery  an  Integral  Part  of  Greek  Life.  —  An  Athenian 
lady  cares  for  everything  in  her  house,  —  for  the  food  supplies, 
for  the  clothing,  yet  probably  her  greatest  task  is  to  manage 
the  heterogeneous  multitude  of  slaves  which  swarm  in  every 
wealthy  or  even  well-to-do  mansion.1 

Slaves  are  everywhere :  not  merely  are  they  the  domestic 
servants,  but  they  are  the  hands  in  the  factories,  they  run 
innumerable  little  shops,  they  unload  the  ships,  they  work 
the  mines,  they  cultivate  the  farms.  Possibly  there  are 
more  able-bodied  male  slaves  in  Attica  than  male  free  men, 
although  this  point  is  very  uncertain.  Their  number  is  the 
harder  to  reckon  because  they  are  not  required  to  wear  any 
distinctive  dress,  and  you  cannot  tell  at  a  glance  whether  a 
man  is  a  mere  piece  of  property,  or  a  poor  but  very  proud 
and  important  member  of  the  "  Sovereign  Demos  [People] 
of  Athens." 

No  prominent  Greek  thinker  seems  to  contest  the  right- 
eousness and  desirability  of  slavery.  It  is  one  of  the 
usual,  nay,  inevitable,  things  pertaining  to  a  civilized  state. 
Aristotle  the  philosopher  puts  the  current  view  of  the  case 
very  clearly.  "The  lower  sort  of  mankind  are  by  nature 
slaves,  and  it  is  better  for  all  inferiors  that  they  should  be 
under  the  rule  of  a  master.  The  use  made  of  slaves  and  of 
tame  animals  is  not  very  different ;  for  both  by  their  bodies 

1  The  Athenians  never  had  the  absurd  armies  of  house  slaves  which 
characterized  Imperial  Rome  ;  still  the  numbers  of  their  domestic  servants 
were,  from  a  modern  standpoint,  extremely  large. 
61 


52  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

minister  to  the  needs  of  life."  The  intelligent,  enlightened, 
progressive  Athenians  are  naturally  the  "  masters " ;  the 
stupid,  ignorant,  sluggish  minded  Barbarians  are  the  "in- 
feriors." Is  it  not  a  plain  decree  of  Heaven  that  the  Athe- 
nians are  made  to  rule,  the  Barbarians  to  serve  ?  —  No  one 
thinks  the  subject  worth  serious  argument. 

Of  course  the  slave  cannot  be  treated  quite  as  one  would 
treat  an  ox.  Aristotle  takes  pains  to  point  out  the  desir- 
ability of  holding  out  to  your  "  chattel "  the  hope  of  freedom, 
if  only  to  make  him  work  better ;  and  the  great  philosopher 
in  his  last  testament  gives  freedom  to  five  of  his  thirteen 
slaves.  Then  again  it  is  recognized  as  clearly  against  public 
sentiment  to  hold  fellow  Greeks  in  bondage.  It  is  indeed 
done.  Whole  towns  get  taken  in  war,  and  those  of  the 
inhabitants  who  are  not  slaughtered  are  sold  into  slavery.1 
Again,  exposed  children,  whose  parents  have  repudiated 
them,  get  into  the  hands  of  speculators,  who  raise  them 
"  for  market."  There  is  also  a  good  deal  of  kidnapping  in 
the  less  civilized  parts  of  Greece  like  ^Etolia.  Still  the 
proportion  of  genuinely  Greek  slaves  is  small.  The  great 
majority  of  them  are  "  Barbarians,"  men  born  beyond  the 
pale  of  Hellenic  civilization. 

40.  The  Slave  Trade  in  Greece.  —  There  are  two  great 
sources  of  slave  supply :  the  Asia  Minor  region  (Lydia  and 
Phrygia,  with  Syria  in  the  background),  and  the  Black 
Sea  region,  especially  the  northern  shores,  known  as  Scythia. 
It  is  known  to  innumerable  heartless  "  traders  "  that  human 
flesh  commands  a  very  high  price  in  Athens  or  other  Greek 
cities.  Every  little  war  or  raid  that  vexes  those  bar- 
barous countries  so  incessantly  is  followed  by  the  sale  of 
the  unhappy  captives  to  speculators  who  ship  them  on, 
stage  by  stage,  to  Athens.  Perhaps  there  is  no  war ;  the 

1  For  example,  the  survivors,  after  the  capture  of  Melos,  iu  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  War. 


The  Slaves  53 


supply  is  kept  up  then  by  deliberate  kidnapping  on  a  large 
scale,  or  by  piracy.1  In  any  case  the  arrival  of  a  chain  gang 
of  fettered  wretches  at  the  Peiraeus  is  an  everyday  sight. 
Some  of  these  creatures  are  submissive  and  tame  (perhaps 
they  understand  some  craft  or  trade) ;  these  can  be  sold  at 
once  for  a  high  price.  Others  are  still  doltish  and  stubborn. 
They  are  good  for  only  the  rudest  kind  of  labor,  unless  they 
are  kept  and  trained  at  heavy  expense.  These  brutish 
creatures  are  frequently  sold  off  to  the  mines,  to  be  worked 
to  death  by  the  contractors  as  promptly  and  brutally  as 
one  wears  out  a  machine  ;  or  else  they  become  public  galley 
slaves,  when  their  fate  is  practically  the  same.  But  we 
need  not  follow  such  horrors. 

The  remainder  are  likely  to  be  purchased  either  for  use 
upon  the  farm,  the  factory,  or  in  the  home.  There  is  a 
regular  "  circle "  at  or  near  the  Agora  for  traffic  in  them. 
They  are  often  sold  at  auction.  The  price  of  course  varies 
with  the  good  looks,  age,2  or  dexterity  of  the  article,  or 
the  abundance  of  supply.  "Slaves  will  be  high"  in  a  year 
when  there  has  been  little  warfare  and  raiding  in  Asia 
Minor.  "Some  slaves,"  says  Xenophon,  "are  well  worth 
two  minse  [$36.00]  and  others  barely  half  a  mina  [$9.00]  ; 
some  sell  up  to  five  minse  [$90.00]  and  even  for  ten 
[$180.00].  Nicias,  the  son  of  Nicaretus,  is  said  to  have 
given  a  talent  [over  $  1000.00]  for  an  overseer  in  the  mines." 3 
The  father  of  Demosthenes  owned  a  considerable  factory. 
He  had  thirty-two  sword  cutters  worth  about  five  minae 
each,  and  twenty  couch-makers  (evidently  less  skilled) 
worth  together  40  minae  [about  $720.00].  A  girl  who  is 

1  A  small  but  fairly  constant  supply  of  slaves  would  come  from  the 
seizure  of  the  persons  and  families  of  bankrupt  debtors,  whose  creditors, 
especially  in  the  Orient,  might  sell  them  into  bondage. 

2  There  was  probably  next  to  no  market  for  old  women  ;  old  men  in 
broken  health  would  also  be  worthless.    Boys  and  maids  that  were  the 
right  age  for  teaching  a  profitable  trade  would  fetch  the  most. 

»  Xenophon,  Memorabilia,  ii.  5,  §  2. 


54  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

handsome  and  a  clever  flute  player,  who  will  be  readily 
hired  for  supper  parties,  may  well  command  a  very  high 
price  indeed,  say  even  30  minae  [about  $540.00]. 

41.  The  Treatment  of  Slaves  in  Athens.  —  Once  purchased, 
what  is  the  condition  of  the  average  slave  ?  If  he  is  put  in 
a  factory,  he  probably  has  to  work  long  hours  on  meager 
rations.  He  is  lodged  in  a  kind  of  kennel ;  his  only  respite 
is  on  the  great  religious  holidays.  He  cannot  contract  valid 
marriage  or  enjoy  any  of  the  normal  conditions  of  family 
life.  Still  his  evil  state  is  partially  tempered  by  the  fact 
that  he  has  to  work  in  constant  association  with  free  work- 
men, and  he  seems  to  be  treated  with  a  moderate  amount  of 
consideration  and  good  camaraderie.  On  the  whole  he  will 
have  much  less  to  complain  of  (if  he  is  honest  and  indus- 
trious) than  his  successors  in  Imperial  Rome. 

In  the  household,  conditions  are  on  the  whole  better. 
Every  Athenian  citizen  tries  to  have  at  least  one  slave, 
who,  we  must  grant,  may  be  a  starving  drudge  of  all  work. 
The  average  gentleman  perhaps  counts  ten  to  twenty  as 
sufficient  for  his  needs.  We  know  of  households  of  fifty. 
There  must  usually  be  a  steward,  a  butler  in  charge  of  the 
storeroom  and  cellar,  a  marketing  slave,  a  porter,  a  baker, 
a  cook,1  a  nurse,  perhaps  several  lady's  maids,  the  indis- 
pensable attendant  for  the  master's  walks  (a  graceful,  well- 
favored  boy,  if  possible),  the  pedagogue  for  the  children,  and 
in  really  rich  families,  a  groom,  and  a  mule  boy.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  mistress  to  see  that  all  these  creatures  are 
kept  busy  and  reasonably  contented.  If  a  slave  is  recon- 
ciled to  his  lot,  honest,  cheerful,  industrious,  his  condition 
is  not  miserable.  Athenian  slaves  are  allowed  a  surprising 
amount  of  liberty,  so  most  visitors  to  the  city  complain.  A 
slave  may  be  flogged  most  cruelly,  but  he  cannot  be  put  to 

1  Who,  however,  could  not  be  trusted  to  cook  a  formal  dinner.  For 
such  purpose  an  expert  must  be  hired. 


The  Slaves  55 


death  at  the  mere  whim  of  his  master.  He  cannot  enter 
the  gymnasium,  or  the  public  assembly;  but  he  can  visit  the 
temples.  As  a  humble  member  of  the  family  he  has  a 
small  part  usually  in  the  family  sacrifices.  But  in  any  case 
he  is  subject  to  one  grievous  hardship :  when  his  testimony 
is  required  in  court  he  must  be  "  put  to  the  question "  by 
torture.  On  the  other  hand,  if  his  master  has  wronged  him 
intolerably,  he  can  take  sanctuary  at  the  Temple  of  Theseus, 
and  claim  the  privilege  of  being  sold  to  some  new  owner. 
A  slave,  too,  has  still  another  grievance  which  may  be  no 
less  galling  because  it  is  sentimental.  His  name  (given  him 
arbitrarily  perhaps  by  his  master)  is  of  a  peculiar  category, 
which  at  once  brands  him  as  a  bondman :  Geta,  Manes,  Dro- 
mon, Sosias,  Xanthias,  Pyrrhias,  —  such  names  would  be 
repudiated  as  an  insult  by  a  citizen. 

42.  Cruel  and  Kind  Masters.  —  Slavery  in  Athens,  as  every- 
where else,  is  largely  dependent  upon  the  character  of  the 
master  ;  and  most  Athenian  masters  would  not  regard  crude 
brutality  as  consistent  with  that  love  of  elegance,  harmony, 
and  genteel  deliberation  which  characterizes  a  well-born 
citizen.  There  do  not  lack  masters  who  have  the  whip 
continually  in  their  hands,  who  add  to  the  raw  stripes 
fetters  and  branding,  and  who  make  their  slaves  unceas- 
ingly miserable;  but  such  masters  are  the  exception,  and 
public  opinion  does  not  praise  them.  Between  the  best 
Athenians  and  their  slaves  there  is  a  genial,  friendly  rela- 
tion, and  the  master  will  put  up  with  a  good  deal  of  real 
impertinence,  knowing  that  behind  this  forwardness  there 
is  an  honest  zeal  for  his  interests. 

Nevertheless  the  slave  system  of  Athens  is  not  commend- 
able. It  puts  a  stigma  upon  the  glory  of  honest  manual 
labor.  It  instills  domineering,  despotic  habits  into  the  own- 
ers, cringing  subservience  into  the  owned.  Even  if  a  slave 
becomes  freed,  he  does  not  become  an  Athenian  citizen ;  he 


56  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

is  only  a  "metic,"  a  resident  foreigner,  and  his  old  master, 
or  some  other  Athenian,  must  be  his  patron  and  representa- 
tive in  every  kind  of  legal  business.  It  is  a  notorious  fact 
that  the  mere  state  of  slavery  robs  the  victim  of  his  self- 
respect  and  manhood.  Nevertheless  nobody  dreams  of 
abolishing  slavery  as  an  institution,  and  the  Athenians, 
comparing  themselves  with  other  communities,  pride  them- 
selves on  the  extreme  humanity  of  their  slave  system. 

43.  The  "City  Slaves"  of  Athens.  —  A  large  number  of 
nominal  "  slaves  "  in  Athens  differ  from  any  of  the  creatures 
we  have  described.  The  community,  no  less  than  an  indi- 
vidual, can  own  slaves  just  as  it  can  own  warships  and 
temples.  Athens  owns  "  city  slaves  "  (Demosioi)  of  several 
varieties.  The  clerks  in  the  treasury  office,  and  the  check- 
ing officers  at  the  public  assemblies  are  slaves ;  so  too  are 
the  less  reputable  public  executioners  and  torturers ;  in 
the  city  mint  there  is  another  corps  of  slave  workmen,  busy 
coining  "Athena's  owls"  —  the  silver  drachmas  and  four- 
drachma  pieces.  But  chiefest  of  all,  the  city  owns  its  public 
police  force.  The  "  Scythians  "  they  are  called  from  their 
usual  land  of  origin,  or  the  "  bowmen,"  from  their  special 
weapon,  which  incidentally  makes  a  convenient  cudgel  in  a 
street  brawl.  There  are  1200  of  them,  always  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  city  magistrates.  They  patrol  the  town  at 
night,  arrest  evil-doers,  sustain  law  and  order  in  the  Agora, 
and  especially  enforce  decorum,  if  the  public  assemblies  or 
the  jury  courts  become  tumultuous.  They  have  a  special 
cantonment  on  the  hill  of  Areopagus  near  the  Acropolis. 
"  Slaves "  they  are  of  course  in  name,  and  under  a  kind  of 
military  discipline;  but  they  are  highly  privileged  slaves. 
The  security  of  the  city  may  depend  upon  their  loyal  zeal. 
In  times  of  war  they  are  auxiliaries.  Life  in  this  police  force 
cannot  therefore  be  burdensome,  and  their  position  is  envied 
by  all  the  factory  workers  and  the  house  servants. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
THE  CHILDREN. 

44.  The  Desirability  of  Children  in  Athens.  —  Besides  the 
oversight  of  the  slaves  the  Athenian  matron  has  naturally 
the  care  of  the  children.     A  childless  home  is  one  of  the 
greatest  of  calamities.     It  means  a  solitary  old  age,  and 
still  worse,  the  dying  out  of  the  family  and  the  worship  of 
the  family  gods.     There  is  just  enough  of  the  old  super- 
stitious "ancestor   worship"  left  in  Athens  to  make   one 
shudder  at  the  idea  of  leaving   the   "deified   ancestors" 
without  any  descendants  to  keep  up  the  simple  sacrifices 
to  their  memory.     Besides,  public  opinion  condemns  the 
childless  home  as  not  contributing  to  the  perpetuation  of 
the  city.     How  Corinth,  Thebes,  or  Sparta  will  rejoice,  if  it 
is  plain  that  Athens  is  destroying  herself  by  race  suicide ! 
So  at  least  one  son  will  be  very  welcome.     His  advent  is  a 
day  of  happiness  for  the  father,  of  still  greater  satisfaction 
for  the  young  mother. 

45.  The  Exposure  of  Infants.  —  How  many  more  children 
are  welcome  depends  on  circumstances.     Children  are  ex- 
pensive luxuries.      They  must  be  properly  educated  and 
even  the  boys  must  be  left  a  fair  fortune.1    The  girls  must 
always  have  good  dowries,  or  they  cannot  "  marry  according 
to  their  station."     Public  opinion,  as  well  as  the  law,  allows 
a  father  (at  least  if  he  has  one  or  two  children  already)  to 
exercise  a  privilege,  which  later  ages  will  pronounce  one  of 
the  foulest  blots  on  Greek  civilization.     After  the  birth  of 
a  child  there  is  an  anxious  day  or  two  for  the  poor  young 

1  The  idea  of  giving  a  lad  a  "  schooling  "  and  then  turning  him  loose 
tc»  earn  his  own  living  in  the  world  was  contrary  to  all  Athenian  theory 
and  practice. 

67 


58  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

mother  and  the  faithful  nurses.  —  Will  he  '  nourish '  it  ? 
Are  there  boys  enough  already  ?  Is  the  disappointment 
over  the  birth  of  a  daughter  too  keen  ?  Does  he  dread  the 
curtailment  in  family  luxuries  necessary  to  save  up  for  an 
allowance  or  dowry  for  the  little  stranger?  Or  does  the 
child  promise  to  be  puny,  sickly,  or  even  deformed  ?  If 
any  of  these  arguments  carry  adverse  weight,  there  is  no 
appeal  against  the  father's  decision.  He  has  until  the  fifth 
day  after  the  birth  to  decide.  In  the  interval  he  can  utter 
the  fatal  words  "  Expose  it !  "  The  helpless  creature  is 
then  put  in  a  rude  cradle,  or  more  often  merely  in  a  shallow 
pot  and  placed  near  some  public  place;  e.g.  the  corner  of 
the  Agora,  or  near  a  gymnasium,  or  the  entrance  to  a 
temple.  Here  it  will  soon  die  of  mere  hunger  and  neglect, 
unless  rescued.  If  the  reasons  for  exposure  are  evident 
physical  defects,  no  one  will  touch  it.  Death  is  certain.  If, 
however,  it  seems  healthy  and  well  formed,  it  is  likely  to 
be  taken  up  and  cared  for.  Not  out  of  pure  compassion, 
however.  The  harpies  who  raise  slaves  and  especially  slave 
girls,  for  no  honest  purposes,  are  prompt  to  pounce  upon 
any  promising  looking  infant.  They  will  rear  it  as  a 
speculation;  if  it  is  a  girl,  they  will  teach  it  to  sing, 
dance,  play.  The  race  of  light  women  in  Athens  is  thus 
really  recruited  from  among  the  very  best  families.  The 
fact  is  well  known,  but  it  is  constantly  winked  at.  Aris- 
tophanes, the  comic  poet,  speaks  of  this  exposure  of  children 
as  a  common  feature  of  Athenian  life.  Socrates  declares 
his  hearers  are  vexed  when  he  robs  them  of  pet  ideas,  "like 
women  who  have  had  their  children  taken  from  them." 
There  is  little  or  nothing  for  men  of  a  later  day  to  say  of 
this  custom  save  condemnation.1 

1  About  the  only  boon  gained  by  this  foul  usage  was  the  fact  that, 
thanks  to  it,  the  number  of  physically  unfit  persons  in  Athens  was  prob- 
ably pretty  small,  for  no  one  would  think  of  bringing  up  a  child  which, 
in  its  first  babyhood,  promised  to  be  a  cripple. 


The  Children  59 


46.  The  Celebration  of  a  Birth.  —  But  assuredly  in  a  ma- 
jority of  cases,  the  coming  of  a  child  is  more  than  welcome. 
If  a  girl,  tufts  of  wool  are  hung  before  the  door  of  the 
happy  home ;   if  a  boy,  there  is  set  out  an  olive  branch. 
Five  days  after  the  birth,  the  nurse  takes  the  baby,  wrapped 
almost  to  suffocation  in  swaddling  bands,  to  the  family 
hearth  in  the  andron,  around  which  she  runs  several  times, 
followed  doubtless,  in  merry,  frolicking  procession,  by  most 
of  the  rest  of  the  family.     The  child  is  now  under  the  care 
of  the  family  gods.    There  is  considerable  eating  and  drink- 
ing.    Exposure  now  is  no  longer  possible.     A  great  load  is 
off  the  mind  of  the  mother.    But  on  the  " tenth  day"  comes 
the  real  celebration  and  the  feast.     This  is  the  "  name  day." 
All  the  kinsmen  are  present.     The  house  is  full  of  incense 
and  garlands.    The  cook  is  in  action  in  the  kitchen.    Every- 
body brings  simple  gifts,  along  with  abundant  wishes  of  good 
luck.     There  is  a  sacrifice,  and  during  the  ensuing  feast 
comes  the  naming  of  the  child.     Athenian  names  are  very 
short  and  simple.1    A  boy  has  often  his  father's  name,  but 
more  usually  his  grandfather's,  as,  e.g.,  Themistocles,  the  son 
of  Neocles,  the  son  of  Themistocles :  the  father's  name  be- 
ing usually  added  in  place  of  a  surname.     In  this  way 
certain  names  will  become  a  kind  of  family  property,  and 
sorrowful  is  the  day  when  there  is  no  eligible  son  to  bear 
them! 

The  child  is  now  a  recognized  member  of  the  community. 
His  father  has  accepted  him  as  a  legitimate  son,  one  of  his 
prospective  heirs,  entitled  in  due  time  to  all  the  rights  of 
an  Athenian  citizen. 

47.  Life  and  Games  of  Young  Children.  —  The  first  seven 
years  of  a  Greek  boy's  life  are  spent  with  his  nurses  and 
his  mother.      Up   to  that   time  his   father  takes  only  un- 

1  Owing  to  this  simplicity  and  the  relatively  small  number  of  Athenian 
names,  a  directory  of  the  city  would  have  been  a  perplexing  affair. 


60 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


official  interest  in  his  welfare.  Once  past  the  first  perilous 
"five  days,"  an  Athenian  baby  has  no  grounds  to  complain 
of  his  treatment.  Great  pains  are  taken  to  keep  him  warm 
and  well  nourished.  A  wealthy  family  will  go  to  some 
trouble  to  get  him  a  skilful  nurse,  those  from  Sparta  being 
in  special  demand,  as  knowing  the  best  how  to  rear  healthy 
infants.  He  has  all  manner  of  toys,  and  Aristotle  the 
philosopher  commends  their  frequent  donation ;  otherwise, 

he  says,  children  will  be 
always  "breaking  things 
in  the  house."  Babies 
have  rattles.  As  they 
grow  older  they  have  dolls 
of  painted  clay  or  wax, 
sometimes  with  movable 
hands  and  feet,  and  also 
toy  dishes,  tables,  wagons, 
and  animals.  Lively  boys 
have  whipping  toys,  balls, 
hoops,  and  swings.  There 
is  no  lack  of  pet  dogs,  nor 
of  all  sorts  of  games  on  the 
THE  MATERNAL  SLIPPER.  blind  man's  buff  and 

"tag"   order.1    Athenian 

children  are,  as  a  class,  very  active  and  noisy.  Plato  speaks 
feelingly  of  their  perpetual  "roaring."  As  they  grow 
larger,  they  begin  to  escape  more  and  more  from  the  narrow 
quarters  of  the  courts  of  the  house,  and  play  in  the  streets. 

48.  Playing  in  the  Streets.  —  Narrow,  dirty,  and  dusty  as 
the  streets  seem,  children,  even  of  good  families,  are  allowed 
to  play  in  them.  After  a  rain  one  can  see  boys  floating 

1  It  is  not  always  easy  to  get  the  exact  details  of  such  ancient  games, 
for  the  "  rules"  have  seldom  come  down  to  us;  but  generally  speaking, 
the  games  of  Greek  children  seem  extremely  like  those  of  the  twentieth 
century. 


The  Children  61 


toy  boats  of  leather  in  every  mud  puddle,  or  industriously 
making  mud  pies.  In  warm  weather  the  favorite  if  cruel 
sport  is  to  catch  a  beetle,  tie  a  string  to  its  legs,  let  it  fly 
off,  then  twitch  it  back  again.  Leapfrog,  hide-and-seek, 
etc.,  are  in  violent  progress  down  every  alley.  The  streets 
are  not  at  all  ideal  playgrounds.  Despite  genteel  ideas  of 
dignity  and  moderation,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  foul  talk 
and  brawling  among  the  passers,  and  Athenian  children 
have  receptive  eyes  and  ears.  Yet  on  the  other  hand,  there 
is  a  notable  regard  and  reverence  for  childhood.  With  all 
its  frequent  callousness  and  inhumanity,  Greek  sentiment 
abhors  any  brutality  to  young  children.  Herodotus  the 
historian  tells  of  the  falling  of  a  roof,  whereby  one  hundred 
and  twenty  school  children  perished,  as  being  a  frightful 
calamity,1  although  recounting  cold-blooded  massacres  of 
thousands  of  adults  with  never  a  qualm;  and  Herodotus  is 
a  very  good  spokesman  for  average  Greek  opinion. 

49.  The  First  Stories  and  Lessons. — Athens  has  no  kin- 
dergartens. The  first  teaching  which  children  will  receive 
is  in  the  form  of  fables  and  goblin  tales  from  their  mothers 
and  nurses,  —  usually  with  the  object  of  frightening  them 
into  "being  good,"  —  tales  of  the  spectral  Lamiae,  or  of  the 
horrid  witch  Mormo  who  will  catch  naughty  children ;  or 
of  Empusa,  a  similar  creature,  who  lurks  in  shadows  and 
dark  rooms ;  or  of  the  Kobaloi,  wild  spirits  in  the  woods. 
Then  come  the  immortal  fables  of  ^Esop  with  their  obvious 
application  towards  right  conduct.  Athenian  mothers  and 
teachers  have  no  two  theories  as  to  the  wisdom  of  corporal 
punishment.  The  rod  is  never  spared  to  the  spoiling  of  the 
child,  although  during  the  first  years  the  slipper  is  suffi- 
cient. Greek  children  soon  have  a  healthy  fear  of  their 
nurses ;  but  they  often  learn  to  love  them,  and  funeral  monu- 
ments will  survive  to  perpetuate  their  grateful  memory. 

i  Herodotus,  VI.  27. 


62  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

50.  The  Training  of  Athenian  Girls.  —  Until  about  seven 
years  old  brothers  and  sisters  grow  up  in  the  Gynceconitis 
together.  Then  the  boys  experience  a  complete  change  in 
their  lives,  when  they  are  sent  to  school.  The  girls  will 
continue  about  the  house  until  the  time  of  their  marriage. 
It  is  only  in  the  rarest  of  cases  that  the  parents  feel  it  need- 
ful to  hire  any  kind  of  tutor  for  them.  What  the  average 
girl  knows  is  simply  what  her  mother  can  teach  her.  Per- 
haps a  certain  number  of  Athenian  women  (of  good  family, 
too)  are  downright  illiterate ;  but  this  is  not  very  often  the 
case.  A  normal  girl  will  learn  to  read  and  write,  with  her 
mother  for  school  mistress.1  Very  probably  she  will  be 
taught  to  dance,  and  sometimes  to  play  on  some  instrument, 
although  this  last  is  not  quite  a  proper  accomplishment  for 
young  women  of  good  family.  Hardly  any  one  dreams  of 
giving  a  woman  any  systematic  intellectual  training.2 
Much  more  important  it  is  that  she  should  know  how  to 
weave,  spin,  embroider,  dominate  the  cook,  and  superintend 
the  details  of  a  dinner  party.  She  will  have  hardly  time  to 
learn  these  matters  thoroughly  before  she  is  "  given  a  hus- 
band," and  her  childhood  days  are  forever  over  (see  p.  35). 

Meantime  her  brother  has  been  started  upon  a  course  of 
education  which,  both  in  what  it  contains  and  in  what  it 
omits,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant 
features  of  Athenian  life. 

1  There  has  come  down  to  us  a  charming  Greek  terra-cotta(it  is  true,  not 
from  Athens)  showing  a  girl  seated  on  her  mother's  knee,  and  learning 
from  a  roll  which  she  holds. 

2  Plato  suggested  in  his  Republic  (V.  451  f .)  that  women  should  receive 
the  same  educational  opportunities  as  the  men.    This  was  a  proposition 
for  Utopia  and  never  struck  any  answering  chord. 


CHAPTER   IX. 
THE   SCHOOLBOYS  OF   ATHENS. 

51.  Athenians  Generally  Literate.  —  Education  is  not  com- 
pulsory by  law  in  Athens,  but  the  father  who  fails  to  give 
his  son  at  least  a  modicum  of  education  falls  under  a  public 
contempt,  which  involves  no  slight  penalty.     Practically  all 
Athenians  are  at  least  literate.     In  Aristophanes's  famous 
comedy,  The  Knights,  a  boorish  "  sausage-seller"  is  introduced, 
who,  for  the  purposes  of  the  play,  must  be  one  of  the  very 
scum  of  society,  and  he  is  made  to  cry,  "  Only  consider 
now  my  education!  I  can  but  barely  read,  just  in  a  kind  of 
way." 1     Evidently  if  illiterates  are  not  very  rare  in  Athens, 
the   fellow   should    have  been  made  out  utterly  ignorant. 
"  He  can  neither  swim 2  nor  say  his  letters,"  is  a  common 
phrase  for  describing  an  absolute  idiot.     When  a  boy  has 
reached  the  age  of  seven,  the  time  for  feminine  rule  is  over ; 
henceforth  his  floggings,  and  they  will  be  many,  are  to  come 
from  firm  male  hands.  . 

52.  Character  Building  the  Aim  of  Athenian  Education.  — 

The  true  education  is  of  course  begun  long  before  the  age  of 
seven.  Character  not  book-learning,  is  the  main  object  of 
Athenian  education,  i.e.  to  make  the  boy  self-contained, 
modest,  alert,  patriotic,  a  true  friend,  a  dignified  gentleman, 
able  to  appreciate  and  participate  in  all  that  is  true,  harmo- 

1  Aristophanes,  Knights,  11. 188-189. 

2  Swimming  was  an  exceedingly  common  accomplishment  among  the 
Greeks,  naturally  enough,  so  much  of  their  life  being  spent  upon  or  near 
the  sea. 


64  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

nious,  and  beautiful  in  life.  To  that  end  his  body  must  be 
trained,  not  apart  from,  but  along  with  his  mind.  Plato 
makes  his  character  Protagoras  remark,  "  As  soon  as  a  child 
understands  what  is  said  to  him,  the  nurse,  the  mother, 
the  pedagogue,  and  the  father  vie  in  their  efforts  to  make 
him  good,  by  showing  him  in  all  that  he  does  that  '  this  is 
right/  and  '  that  is  wrong ' ;  *  this  is  pretty/  and  '  that  is 
ugly ' ;  so  that  he  may  learn  what  to  follow  and  what  to 
shun.  If  he  obeys  willingly  —  why,  excellent.  If  not,  then 
try  by  threats  and  blows  to  correct  him,  as  men  straighten  a 
warped  and  crooked  sapling."  Also  after  he  is  fairly  in 
school  "  the  teacher  is  enjoined  to  pay  more  attention  to  his 
morals  and  conduct  than  to  his  progress  in  reading  and 


53.  The  Schoolboy's  Pedagogue.  —  It  is  a  great  day  for  an 
Athenian  boy  when  he  is  given  a  pedagogue.  This  slave 
(perhaps  purchased  especially  for  the  purpose)  is  not  his 
teacher,  but  he  ought  to  be  more  than  ordinarily  honest, 
kindly,  and  well  informed.  His  prime  business  is  to  accom- 
pany the  young  master  everywhere  out-of-doors,  especially 
to  the  school  and  to  the  gymnasium  ;  to  carry  his  books  and 
writing  tablets ;  to  give  informal  help  upon  his  lessons ;  to 
keep  him  out  of  every  kind  of  mischief ;  to  teach  him  social 
good  manners;  to  answer  the  thousand  questions  a  healthy 
boy  is  sure  to  ask ;  and  finally,  in  emergencies,  if  the  school- 
master or  father  is  not  at  hand,  to  administer  a  needful 
whipping.  A  really  capable  pedagogue  can  mean  every- 
thing to  a  boy ;  but  it  is  asking  too  much  that  a  purchased 
slave  should  be  an  ideal  companion.1  Probably  many  peda- 
gogues are  responsible  for  their  charges'  idleness  or  down- 
right depravity.  It  is  a  dubious  system  at  the  best. 

1  No  doubt  frequently  the  pedagogue  would  be  an  old  family  servant 
of  good  morals,  loyalty,  and  zeal.  In  that  case  the  relation  might  be 
delightful. 


The  Schoolboys  of  Athens  65 

The  assigning  of  the  pedagogue  is  simultaneous  with  the 
beginning  of  school  days ;  and  the  Athenians  are  not  open 
to  the  charge  of  letting  their  children  waste  their  time  dur- 
ing possible  study  hours.  As  early  as  Solon's  day  (about 
5.90  B.C.)  a  law  had  to  be  passed  forbidding  schools  to  open 
before  daybreak,  or  to  be  kept  open  after  dusk.  This  was 
in  the  interest  not  of  good  eyesight,  but  of  good  morals. 
Evidently  schools  had  been  keeping  even  longer  than  through 
the  daylight.  In  any  case,  at  gray  dawn  every  yawning 
schoolboy  is  off,  urged  on  by  his  pedagogue,  and  his  tasks 
will  continue  with  very  little  interruption  through  the  entire 
day.  It  is  therefore  with  reason  that  the  Athenian  lads 
rejoice  in  the  very  numerous  religious  holidays. 

54.  An  Athenian  School.  —  Leaving  the  worthy  citizen's 
home,  where  we  have  lingered  long  chatting  on  many  of  the 
topics  the  house  and  its  denizens  suggest,  we  will  turn  again 
to  the  streets  to  seek  the  school  where  one  of  the  young  sons 
of  the  family  has  been  duly  conducted  (possibly,  one  may 
say,  driven)  by  his  pedagogue.  We  have  not  far  to  go. 
Athenian  schools  have  to  be  numerous,  because  they  are 
small.  To  teach  children  of  the  poorer  classes  it  is  enough 
to  have  a  modest  room  and  a  few  stools ;  an  unrented  shop 
will  answer.  But  we  will  go  to  a  more  pretentious  establish- 
ment. There  is  an  anteroom  by  the  entrance  way  where  the 
pedagogues  can  sit  and  doze  or  exchange  gossip  while  their 
respective  charges  are  kept  busy  in  the  larger  room  within. 
The  latter  place,  however,  is  not  particularly  commodious. 
On  the  bare  wall  hang  book-rolls,  lyres,  drinking  vessels, 
baskets  for  books,  and  perhaps  some  simple  geometrical 
instruments.  The  pupils  sit  on  rude,  low  benches,  each  lad 
with  his  boxwood  tablet  covered  with  wax l  upon  his  lap, 

1  This  wax  tablet  was  practically  a  slate.  The  letters  written  could  be 
erased  with  the  blunt  upper  end  of  the  metallic  stylus,  and  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  tablet  could  be  made  smooth  again  by  a  judicious  heating. 


66  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

and  presumably  busy,  scratching  letters  with  his  stylus. 
The  master  sits  on  a  high  chair,  surveying  the  scene.  He 
cultivates  a  grim  and  awful  aspect,  for  he  is  under  no  delu- 
sion that  "  his  pupils  love  him."  "  He  sits  aloft,"  we  are 
told,  "like  a  juryman,  with  an  expression  of  implacable 
wrath,  before  which  the  pupil  must  tremble  and  cringe." l 

Athenian  schoolboys  have  at  least  their  full  share  of  idle- 
ness, as  well  as  of  animal  spirits.  There  is  soon  a  loiid 
whisper  from  one  corner.  Instantly  the  ruling  tyrant 
rises.  "  Antiphon !  I  have  heard  you.  Come  forward  !  "  If 
Antiphon  is  wise,  he  will  advance  promptly  and  submit  as 
cheerfully  as  possible  to  a  sound  caning ;  if  folly  possesses 
him,  he  will  hesitate.  At  a  nod  from  the  master  two  older 
boys,  who  serve  as  monitors,  will  seize  him  with  grim 
chuckles.  He  will  then  be  fortunate  if  he  escapes  being 
tied  to  a  post  and  flogged  until  his  back  is  one  mass  of  welts, 
and  his  very  life  seems  in  danger.  It  will  be  useless  for 
him  to  complain  to  his  parents.  A  good  schoolmaster  is 
supposed  to  flog  frequently  to  earn  his  pay ;  if  he  is  sparing 
with  the  rod  or  lash,  he  is  probably  lacking  in  energy. 
Boys  will  be  boys,  and  there  is  only  one  remedy  for  juvenile 
shortcomings. 

This  diversion,  of  course,  with  its  attendant  howling,  in- 
terrupts the  course  of  the  school,  but  presently  matters 
again  become  normal.  The  scholars  are  so  few  that  probably 
there  is  only  one  teacher,  and  instruction  is  decidedly  "  in- 
dividual," although  poetry  and  singing  are  very  likely 
taught  "  in  concert." 

55.  The  School  Curriculum.  —  As  to  the  subjects  studied, 
the  Athenian  curriculum  is  well  fixed  and  limited :  letters, 
music,  and  gymnastics.  Every  lad  must  have  a  certain 
amount  of  all  of  these.  The  gymnastics  will  be  taught  later 

1  The  quotation  is  from  the  late  writer  Libanius,  but  it  is  perfectly  true 
for  classic  Athens. 


The  Schoolboys  of  Athens  67 

in  the  day  by  a  special  teacher  at  a  "wrestling  school." 
The  "music"  may  also  be  taught  separately.  The  main 
effort  with  a  young  boy  is  surely  to  teach  him  to  read  and 
write.  And  here  must  be  recalled  the  relative  infrequency 
of  complete  books  in  classic  Athens.1  To  read  public  pla- 
cards, inscriptions  of  laws,  occasional  epistles,  commercial 
documents,  etc.,  is  probably,  for  many  Athenians,  reading 
enough.  The  great  poets  he  will  learn  by  ear  rather  than 
by  eye ;  and  he  may  go  through  a  long  and  respected  life 
and  never  be  compelled  to  read  a  really  sizable  volume  from 
end  to  end.  So  the  teaching  of  reading  is  along  very  simple 
lines.  It  is  perhaps  simultaneous  with  the  learning  of 
writing.  The  twenty-four  letters  are  learned  by  sheer 
power  of  memory ;  then  the  master  sets  lines  upon  the 
tablets  to  be  copied.  As  soon  as  possible  the  boy  is  put 
to  learning  and  writing  down  passages  from  the  great  poets. 
Progress  in  mere  literacy  is  very  rapid.  There  is  no  waste 
of  time  on  history,  geography,  or  physical  science ;  and  be- 
tween the  concentration  on  a  single  main  subject  and  the 
impetus  given  by  the  master's  rod  the  Athenian  schoolboy 
soon  becomes  adept  with  his  letters.  Possibly  a  little 
arithmetic  is  taught  him,  but  only  a  little.  In  later  life,  if  he 
does  not  become  a  trader  or  banker,  he  will  not  be  ashamed 
to  reckon  simple  sums  upon  his  fingers  or  by  means  of 
pebbles ;  although  if  his  father  is  ambitious  to  have  him 
become  a  philosopher,  he  may  have  him  taught  something  of 
geometry. 

Once  more  we  see  the  total  absence  of  "  vocational  studies  " 
in  this  Athenian  education.  The  whole  effort  is  to  develop 
a  fair,  noble,  free,  and  lofty  character,  not  to  earn  a  living. 
To  set  a  boy  to  study  with  an  eye  to  learning  some  profita- 
ble trade  is  counted  illiberal  to  the  last  degree.  It  is  for 

1  One  gets  the  impression  that  books  —  in  the  sense  of  complete  volumes 
—  were  much  rarer  in  Athens  than  in  Imperial  Rome,  or  in  the  later  Mid- 
dle Ages  up  to  the  actual  period  of  the  invention  of  printing. 


68  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

this  reason  that  practical  arithmetic  is  discouraged,  yet  a 
little  knowledge  of  the  art  of  outline  drawing  is  allowed ; 
for  though  no  gentleman  intends  to  train  his  son  to  be  a 
great  artist,  the  study  will  enable  him  to  appreciate  good 
sculpture  and  painting.  Above  all  the  schoolmaster,  who, 
despite  his  brutal  austerity,  ought  to  be  a  clear-sighted  and 
inspiring  teacher,  must  lose  no  opportunity  to  instil  moral 
lessons,  and  develop  the  best  powers  of  his  charges.  The- 
ognis,  the  old  poet  of  Megara,  states  the  case  well :  — 

To  rear  a  child  is  easy  ;  but  to  teach 
Morals  and  manners  is  beyond  our  reach. 
To  make  the  foolish  wise,  the  wicked  good, 
That  science  never  yet  was  understood. 

56.  The  Study  of  the  Poets.  —  It  is  for  the  developing  of 
the  best  moral  and  mental  qualities  in  the  lads  that  they 
are  compelled  to  memorize  long  passages  of  the  great  poets 
of  Hellas.  Theognis,  with  his  pithy  admonitions  cast  in 
semi-proverb  form,  the  worldly  wisdom  of  Hesiod,  and  of 
Phocylides  are  therefore  duly  flogged  into  every  Attic  school- 
boy.1 But  the  great  text-book,  dwarfing  all  others,  is 
Homer,  —  "  the  Bible  of  the  Greeks,"  as  later  ages  will  call 
it.  Even  in  the  small  school  we  visit,  several  of  the  pupils 
can  repeat  five  or  six  long  episodes  from  both  the  Iliad  and 
the  Odyssey,  and  there  is  one  older  boy  present  (an  ex- 
traordinary, but  by  no  means  an  unprecedented  case)  who 
can  repeat  both  of  the  long  epics  word  for  word.2  Clearly 
the  absence  of  many  books  has  then  its  compensations. 
The  average  Athenian  lad  has  what  seems  to  be  a  simply 
marvelous  memory. 

And  what  an  admirable  text-book  and  "  second  reader  " 

1  Phocylides,  whose  gnomic  poetry  is  now  preserved  to  us  only  in  scant 
fragments,  was  an  Ionian,  born  about  560  B.C.    His  verses  were  in  great 
acceptance  in  the  schools. 

2  For  auch  an  attainment  see  Xenophon's  Symposium,  3  : 5. 


The  Schoolboys  of  Athens  69 

the  Homeric  poems  are !  What  characters  to  imitate  : 
the  high-minded,  passionate,  yet  withal  loyal  and  lovable 
Achilles  who  would  rather  fight  gloriously  before  Troy 
(though  death  in  the  campaign  is  certain)  than  live  a  long 
life  in  ignoble  ease  at  home  at  Phthia ;  or  Odysseus,  the 
"  hero  of  many  devices,"  who  endures  a  thousand  ills  and 
surmounts  them  all ;  who  lets  not  even  the  goddess  Calypso 
seduce  him  from  his  love  to  his  "  sage  Penelope  " ;  who  is 
ever  ready  with  a  clever  tale,  a  plausible  lie,  and,  when  the 
need  comes,  a  mighty  deed  of  manly  valor.  The  boys  will 
all  go  home  to-night  with  firm  resolves  to  suffer  all  things 
rather  than  leave  a  comrade  unavenged,  as  Achilles  was 
tempted  to  do  and  nobly  refused,  and  to  fight  bravely,  four 
against  forty,  as  Odysseus  and  his  comrades  did,  when  at 
the  call  of  duty  and  honor  they  cleared  the  house  of  the 
dastard  suitors.  True,  philosophers  like  Plato  complain: 
"Homer  gives  to  lads  very  undignified  and  unworthy  ideas 
of  the  gods  "  ;  and  men  of  a  later  age  will  assert :  "  Homer 
has  altogether  too  little  to  say  about  the  cardinal  virtues  of 
truthfulness  and  honesty." l  But  making  all  allowances 
the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  are  still  the  two  grandest  secular 
text-books  the  world  will  ever  know.  The  lads  are  infinitely 
the  better  for  them. 

Three  years,  according  to  Plato,  are  needed  to  learn  the 
rudiments  of  reading  and  writing  before  the  boys  are  fairly 
launched  upon  this  study  of  the  poets.  For  several  years 
more  they  will  spend  most  of  their  mornings  standing  re- 
spectfully before  their  master,  while  he  from  his  chair 
reads  to  them  from  the  roll  of  one  author  or  another,  —  the 

1  The  virtue  of  unflinching  honesty  was  undoubtedly  the  thing  least 
cultivated  by  the  Greek  education.  Successful  prevarication,  e.g.  in  the 
case  of  Odysseus,  was  put  at  altogether  too  high  a  premium.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  the  average  Athenian  schoolboy  was  only  partially  truthful. 
The  tale  of  "  George  Washington  and  the  cherry  tree  "  would  never  have 
found  favor  in  Athens.  The  great  Virginian  would  have  been  blamed  for 
failing  to  concoct  a  clever  lie. 


70  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

pupils  repeating  the  lines,  time  and  again,  until  they  have 
learned  them,  while  the  master  interrupts  to  explain  every 
nice  point  in  mythology,  in  real  or  alleged  history,  or  a 
moot  question  in  ethics. 

57.  The  Greeks  do  not  study  Foreign  Languages.  —  As  the 
boys  grow  older  the  scope  of  their  study  naturally  increases ; 
but  in  one  particular  their  curriculum  will  seem  strangely 
limited.     The  study  of  foreign  languages  has  no  place  in  a 
Greek  course  of  study.     That  any  gentleman  should  learn 
say  Persian,  or  Egyptian  (unless  he  intended  to  devote  him- 
self to  distant  travel),  seems  far  more  unprofitable  than,  in  a 
later  age,  the  study  of  say  Patagonian  or  Papuan  will  ap- 
pear.1    Down  at  the  Peirseus  there  are  a  few  shipmasters, 
perhaps,  who  can  talk  Egyptian,  Phoenician,  or  Babylonish. 
They  need  the  knowledge  for  their  trade,  but  even  they 
will  disclaim  any  cultural  value  for  their  accomplishment. 
The  euphonious,  expressive,  marvelously  delicate  tongue  of 
Hellas  sums  up  for  the  Athenian  almost  all  that  is  valuable 
in  the  world's  intellectual  and  literary  life.     What  has  the 
outer,   the   "Barbarian,"   world  to   give   him?  —  Nothing, 
many  will  say,  but  some  gold  darics  which  will  corrupt  his 
statesmen,  and  some  spices,  carpets,  and  similar  luxuries 
which  good  Hellenes  can  well  do  without.     The  Athenian 
lad  will  never  need  to  crucify  the  flesh  upon  Latin,  French, 
and  German,  or  an  equivalent  for  his  own  Greek.     Therein 
perhaps  he  may  be  heavily  the  loser,  save  that  his  own 
mother  tongue  is  so  intricate  and  full  of  subtle  possibilities 
that  to  learn  to  make  the  full  use  thereof  is  truly  a  matter 
for  lifelong  education. 

58.  The  Study  of  "  Music."  —  But  the  Athenian  has  a  sub- 
stitute for  this  omission  of  foreign  language  study :  Music. 

1  This  fact  did  not  prevent  the  Greeks  from  having  a  considerable 
respect  for  the  traditions  and  lore  of,  e.g.,  the  Egyptians,  and  from  borrow- 
ing a  good  many  non-Greek  usages  and  inventions;  but  all  this  could  take 
place  without  feeling  the  least  necessity  for  studying  foreign  languages. 


The  Schoolboys  of  Athens  71 

This  is  something  more  comprehensive  than  "the  art  of 
combining  tones  in  a  manner  to  please  the  ear"  [Webster], 
It  is  practically  the  study  of  whatever  will  develop  the 
noble  powers  of  the  emotions,  as  contrasted  to  the  mere 
intellect.1  Indeed  everything  which  comes  within  the  ample 
provinces  of  the  nine  Muses,  even  sober  history,  might  be 
included  in  the  term.  However,  for  special  purposes,  the 
study  of  "  Music "  may  be  considered  as  centering  around 
playing  instruments  and  singing.  The  teacher  very  likely 
resides  in  a  house  apart  from  the  master  of  the  school  of 
letters.  Aristophanes  gives  this  picture  of  the  good  old 
customs  for  the  teaching  of  music.  "The  boys  from  the 
same  section  of  the  town  have  to  march  thinly  clad  and 
draw  up  in  good  order  —  though  the  snow  be  thick  as  meal 
—  to  the  house  of  the  harp  master.  There  he  will  teach  them 
[some  famous  tune]  raising  a  mighty  melody.  If  any  one 
acts  silly  or  turns  any  quavers,  he  gets  a  good  hard  thrash- 
ing for  '  banishing  the  Muses  ! ' " 2 

Learning  to  sing  is  probably  the  most  important  item, 
for  every  boy  and  man  ought  to  be  able  to  bear  his  part  in 
the  great  chorals  which  are  a  notable  element  in  most 
religious  festivals ;  besides,  a  knowledge  of  singing  is  a 
great  aid  to  appreciating  lyric  poetry,  or  the  choruses  in 
tragedy,  and  in  learning  to  declaim.  To  learn  to  sing 
elaborate  solo  pieces  is  seldom  necessary,  —  it  is  not  quite 
genteel  in  grown-up  persons,  for  it  savors  a  little  too  much 
of  the  professional.  So  it  is  also  with  instrumental  music. 
The  Greeks  lack  the  piano,  the  organ,  the  elaborate  bass 
instruments  of  a  later  day.  Their  flutes  and  harps,  although 
very  sweet,  might  seem  thin  to  a  twentieth-century  critic. 


1  Aristotle  [Politics,  V.  (or  VIII.)  1]  says  that  the  literary  education  is 
to  train  the  mind;  while  music,  though  of  no  practical  use,  "provides 
a  noble  and  liberal  employment  of  leisure." 

3  Aristophanes's  The  Clouds.  The  whole  passage  is  cited  in  Da  vis's 
Readings  in  Ancient  History,  vol.  I,  pp.  262-255. 


72  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

But  one  can  gain  considerable  volume  by  the  great  num- 
ber of  instruments,  and  nearly  everybody  in  Athens  can 
pick  at  the  lyre  after  a  fashion.  The  common  type  of  harp 
is  the  lyre,  and  it  has  enough  possibilities  for  the  average 
boy.  The  more  elaborate  cithera  is  usually  reserved  for 
professionals.1  An  Athenian  lad  is  expected  to  be  able  to 
accompany  his  song  upon  his  own  lyre  and  to  play  in  con- 
cert with  his  fellows. 

The  other  instrument  in  common  use  is  the  flute.  At  its 
simplest,  this  is  a  mere  shepherd's  pipe.  Anybody  can 
make  one  with  a  knife  and  some  rushes.  Then  come  elabora- 
tions ;  two  pipes  are  fitted  together  into  one  wooden  mouth- 
piece. Now,  we  really  have  an  instrument  with  possi- 
bilities. But  it  is  not  in  such  favor  in  the  schools  as  the 
lyre.  You  cannot  blow  day  after  day  upon  the  flute  and 
not  distort  your  cheeks  permanently.  Again  the  gentle- 
man's son  will  avoid  "  professionalism."  There  are  amateur 
flute  players  moving  in  the  best  society,  but  the  more 
fastidious  frown  upon  the  instrument,  save  for  hired 
performers. 

59.  The  Moral  Character  of  Greek  Music.  —  Whether  it  is 
singing,  harp  playing,  or  flute  playing,  a  most  careful  watch  is 
kept  upon  the  character  of  the  music  taught  the  lads.  The 
master  who  lets  his  pupils  learn  many  soft,  dulcet,  languish- 
ing airs  will  find  his  charges'  parents  extremely  angry,  even 
to  depriving  him  of  their  patronage.  Very  soft  music,  in 
"Lydian  modes,"  is  counted  effeminate,  fit  only  for  the 
women's  quarters  and  likely  to  do  boys  no  good.  The  riotous 
type  also,  of  the  "  Ionic  mode,"  is  fit  only  for  drinking  songs 
and  is  even  more  under  the  ban.2  What  is  especially  in  favor 

1  For  the  details  of  these  harp  types  of  instruments  see  Dictionary  of 
Antiquities. 

2  The  "Phrygian  mode"  from  which  the  "Ionic"  was  derived  was 
still  more  demoralizing;  it  was  counted  "  orgiastic,"  and  proper  only 
in  certain  excited  religious  rhapsodies. 


The  Schoolboys  of  Athens  73 

is  the  stern,  strenuous  Dorian  mode.  This  will  make  boys 
hardy,  manly,  and  brave.  Very  elaborate  music  with  trills 
and  quavers  is  in  any  case  frowned  upon.  It  simply  delights 
the  trained  ear,  and  has  no  reaction  upon  the  character; 
and  of  what  value  is  a  musical  presentation  unless  it  leaves 
the  hearers  and  performer  better,  worthier  men?  Let  the 
average  Athenian  possess  the  opportunity,  and  he  will  in- 
fallibly stamp  with  disapproval  a  great  part  of  both  the 
popular  and  the  classical  music  of  the  later  ages.1 

60.  The  Teaching  of  Gymnastics.  —  The  visits  to  the  read- 
ing school  and  to  the  harp  master  have  consumed  a  large 
part  of  the  day;  but  towards  afternoon  the  pedagogues 
will  conduct  their  charges  to  the  third  of  the  schoolboys' 
tyrants  :  the  gymnastic  teacher.  Nor  do  his  parents  count 
this  the  least  important  of  the  three.  Must  not  their"  sons 
be  as  physically  "  beautiful "  (to  use  the  common  phrase  in 
Athens)  as  possible,  and  must  they  not  some  day,  as  good 
citizens,  play  their  brave  part  in  war?  The  palcestras  (liter- 
ally "wrestling  grounds")  are  near  the  outskirts  of  the 
city,  where  land  is  cheap  and  a  good-sized  open  space  can 
be  secured.  Here  the  lads  are  given  careful  instruction 
under  the  constant  eye  of  an  expert  in  running,  wrestling, 
boxing,  jumping,  discus  hurling,  and  javelin  casting.  They 
are  not  expected  to  become  professional  athletes,  but  their 
parents  will  be  vexed  if  they  do  not  develop  a  healthy  tan 
all  over  their  naked  bodies,2  and  if  they  do  not  learn  at  least 
moderate  proficiency  in  the  sports  and  a  certain  amount  of 
familiarity  with  elementary  military  maneuvers.  Of  course 

1  We  have  extremely  few  Greek  melodies  preserved  to  us,  and  these 
few  are  not  attractive  to  the  modern  ear.    All  that  can  fairly  be  said  is 
that  the  Hellenes  were  obviously  such  aesthetic,  harmoniously  minded 
people  that  it  is  impossible  their  music  should  have  failed  in  nobility, 
beauty,  and  true  melody. 

2  To  have  a  pale,  un tanned  skin  was  "  womanish  "  and  unworthy  of  a 
free  Athenian  citizen. 


74  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

boys  of  marked  physical  ability  will  be  encouraged  to  think 
of  training  for  the  various  great  "  games  "  which  culminate 
at  Olympia,  although  enlightened  opinion  is  against  the  pro- 
moting of  professional  athletics;  and  certain  extreme  philoso- 
phers question  the  wisdom  of  any  extensive  physical  culture 
at  all,  "  for  (say  they)  is  not  the  human  mind  the  real  thing 
worth  developing?"1 

Weary  at  length  and  ready  for  a  hearty  meal  and  sleep, 
the  boys  are  conducted  homeward  by  their  pedagogues. 

As  they  grow  older  the  lads  with  ambitious  parents 
will  be  given  a  more  varied  education.  Some  will  be  put 
under  such  teachers  of  the  new  rhetoric  and  oratory,  now  in 
vogue,  as  the  famous  Isocrates,  and  be  taught  to  play  the 
orator  as  an  aid  to  inducing  their  fellow  citizens  to  bestow 
political  advancement.  Certain  will  be  allowed  to  become 
pupils  of  Plato,  who  has  been  teaching  his  philosophy  out  at 
the  groves  of  the  Academy,  or  to  join  some  of  his  rivals  in 
theoretical  wisdom.  Into  these  fields,  however,  we  cannot 
follow  them. 

61.  The  Habits  and  Ambitions  of  Schoolboys.  —  It  is  a 
clear  fact,  that  by  the  age  say  of  thirteen,  the  Athenian 
education  has  had  a  marked  effect  upon  the  average  school- 
boy. Instead  of  being  "  the  most  ferocious  of  animals,"  as 
Plato,  speaking  of  his  untutored  state  describes  him,  he  is 
now  "  the  most  amiable  and  divine  of  living  beings."  The 
well-trained  lad  goes  now  to  school  with  his  eyes  cast  upon 
the  ground,  his  hands  and  arms  wrapped  in  his  chiton, 
making  way  dutifully  for  all  his  elders.  If  he  is  addressed 
by  an  older  man,  he  stands  modestly,  looking  downward 
and  blushing  in  a  manner  worthy  of  a  girl.  He  has  been 
taught  to  avoid  the  Agora,  and  if  he  must  pass  it,  never  to 

1  The  details  of  the  boys'  athletic  games,  being  much  of  a  kind  with  those 
followed  by  adults  at  the  regular  public  gymnasia,  are  here  omitted 
See  Chap.  XVII. 


The  Schoolboys  of  Athens  75 

linger.  The  world  is  full  of  evil  and  ugly  things,  but  he  is 
taught  to  hear  and  see  as  little  of  them  as  possible.  When 
men  talk  of  his  healthy  color,  increasing  beauty,  and  admire 
the  graceful  curves  of  his  form  at  the  wrestling  school,  he 
must  not  grow  proud.  He  is  being  taught  to  learn  relatively 
little  from  books,  but  a  great  deal  from  hearing  the  conver- 
sation of  grave  and  well-informed  men.  As  he  grows  older 
his  father  will  take  him  to  all  kinds  of  public  gatherings 
and  teach  him  the  working  details  of  the  "  Democratic 
Government"  of  Athens.  He  becomes  intensely  proud  of 
his  city.  It  is  at  length  his  chief  thought,  almost  his  entire 
life.  A  very  large  part  of  the  loyalty  which  an  educated 
man  of  a  later  age  will  divide  between  his  home,  his  church, 
his  college,  his  town,  and  his  nation,  the  Athenian  lad  will 
sum  up  in  two  words,  —  "  my  polis  "  ;  i.e.  the  city  of  Athens. 
His  home  is  largely  a  place  for  eating  and  sleeping ;  his 
school  is  not  a  great  institution,  it  is  simply  a  kind  of  disa- 
greeable though  necessary  learning  shop ;  his  church  is  the 
religion  of  his  ancestors,  and  this  religion  is  warp  and  woof 
of  the  government,  as  much  a  part  thereof  as  the  law  courts 
or  the  fighting  fleet ;  his  town  and  his  nation  are  alike  the 
sovran  city-state  of  Athens.  Whether  he  feels  keenly  a 
wider  loyalty  to  Hellas  at  large,  as  against  the  Great  King 
of  Persia,  for  instance,  will  depend  upon  circumstances.  In 
a  real  crisis,  as  at  Salamis,  —  yes.  In  ordinary  circum- 
stances when  there  is  hot  feud  with  Sparta,  —  no. 

62.  The  "  Ephebi."  —  The  Athenian  education  then  is  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  make  the  average  lad  a  useful  and 
worthy  citizen,  and  to  make  him  modest,  alert,  robust,  manly, 
and  a  just  lover  of  the  beautiful,  both  in  conduct  and  in  art. 
It  does  not,  however,  develop  his  individual  bent  very 
strongly ;  and  it  certainly  gives  him  a  mean  view  of  the  dig- 
nity of  labor.  He  will  either  become  a  leisurely  gentleman, 
whose  only  proper  self-expression  will  come  in  warfare, 


76  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

politics,  or  philosophy ;  or  —  if  he  be  poor — he  will  at  least 
envy  and  try  to  imitate  the  leisure  class. 

By  eighteen  the  young  Athenian's  days  of  study  will 
usually  come  to  a  close.  At  that  age  he  will  be  given  a 
simple  festival  by  his  father  and  be  formally  enrolled  in  his 
paternal  deme.1  His  hair,  which  has  hitherto  grown  down 
toward  his  shoulders,  will  be  clipped  short.  He  will  allow 
his  beard  to  grow.  At  the  temple  of  Aglaurus  he  will  (with 
the  other  youths  of  his  age)  take  solemn  oath  of  loyalty  to 
Athens  and  her  laws.  For  the  next  year  he  will  serve  as  a 
military  guard  at  the  Peirseus,  and  receive  a  certain  train- 
ing in  soldiering.  The  next  year  the  state  will  present  him 
with  a  new  shield  and  spear,  and  he  will  have  a  taste  of 
rougher  garrison  duty  at  one  of  the  frontier  forts  towards 
Bceotia  or  Megara.2  Then  he  is  mustered  out.  He  is  an 
ephebus  no  longer,  but  a  full-fledged  citizen,  and  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  Athenian  life  are  before  him. 

1  One  of  the  hundred  or  more  petty  townships  or  precincts  into  which 
Attica  was  divided. 

8  These  two  years  which  the  ephebi  of  Athens  had  to  serve  under  arms 
have  been  aptly  likened  to  the  military  service  now  required  of  young 
men  in  European  countries. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  PHYSICIANS  OF  ATHENS. 

63.  The  Beginnings  of  Greek  Medical  Science.  —As  we  move 
about  the  city  we  cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the  high  aver- 
age of  fine  physiques  and  handsome  faces.  Your  typical 
Greek  is  fair  in  color  and  has  very  regular  features.  The 
youths  do  not  mature  rapidly,  but  thanks  to  the  gymnasia 
and  the  regular  lives,  they  develop  not  merely  admirable, 
but  healthy,  bodies.  The  proportion  of  hale  and  hearty  old 
men  is  great ;  and  probably  the  number  of  invalids  is  con- 
siderably smaller  than  in  later  times  and  in  more  artificially 
reared  communities.1  Nevertheless,  the  Athenians  are  cer- 
tainly mortal,  and  subject  to  bodily  ills,  and  the  physician 
is  no  unimportant  member  of  society,  although  his  exact 
status  is  much  less  clearly  determined  than  it  will  be  in  sub- 
sequent ages. 

'  Greek  medicine  and  surgery,  as  it  appears  in  Homer,  is 
simply  a  certain  amount  of  practical  knowledge  gained  by 
rough  experience,  largely  supplemented  by  primitive  super- 
stition. It  was  quite  as  important  to  know  the  proper 
prayers  and  charms  wherewith  to  approach  "Apollo  the 
Healer,"  as  to  understand  the  kind  of  herb  poultice  which 
would  keep  wounds  from  festering.  Homer  speaks  of  As- 
clepius ;  however,  in  early  days  he  was  not  a  god,  but  simply 
a  skilful  leach.  Then  as  we  approach  historic  times  the 
physician's  art  becomes  more  regular.  Asclepius  is  elevated 

1  A  slight  but  significant  witness  to  the  general  healthiness  of  the  Greeks 
is  found  in  the  very  rare  mention  in  their  literature  of  such  a  common 
ill  as  toothache. 

77 


78  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

into  a  separate  and  important  deity,  although  it  is  not  till 
420  B.C.  that  his  worship  is  formally  introduced  into  Athens. 
Long  ere  that  time,  however,  medicine  and  surgery  had  won 
a  real  place  among  the  practical  sciences.  The  sick  man 
stands  at  least  a  tolerable  chance  of  rational  treatment, 
and  of  not  being  murdered  by  wizards  and  fanatical  ex- 
orcists. 

64.  Healing  Shrines  and  their  Methods.  —  There  exist  in 
Athens  and  in  other  Greek  cities  real  sanatoria1;  these  are 
temples  devoted  to  the  healing  gods  (usually  Asclepius,  but 
sometimes  Apollo,  Aphrodite,  and  Hera).  Here  the  patient 
is  expected  to  sleep  over  night  in  the  temple,  and  the  god 
visits  him  in  a  dream,  and  reveals  a  course  of  treatment 
which  will  lead  to  recovery.  Probably  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  sham  and  imposture  about  the  process.  The  canny 
priests  know  more  than  they  care  to  tell  about  how  the 
patient  is  worked  into  an  excitable,  imaginative  state ;  and 
of  the  very  human  means  employed  to  produce  a  satisfactory 
and  informing  dream.2  Nevertheless  it  is  a  great  deal  to 
convince  the  patient  that  he  is  sure  of  recovery,  and  that 
nobody  less  than  a  god  has  dictated  the  remedies.  The 
value  of  mental  therapeutics  is  keenly  appreciated.  At- 
tached to  the  temple  are  skilled  physicians  to  "  interpret " 
the  dream,  and  opportunities  for  prolonged  residence  with 
treatment  by  baths,  purgation,  dieting,  mineral  waters,  sea 
baths,  all  kinds  of  mild  gymnastics,  etc.  Entering  upon 
one  of  these  temple  treatments  is,  in  short,  anything  but  sur- 
rendering oneself  to  unmitigated  quackery.  Probably  a 
large  proportion  of  the  former  patients  have  recovered; 
and  they  have  testified  their  gratitude  by  hanging  around 

1  The  most  famous  was  at  Epidaurus,  where  the  Asclepius  cult  seems  to 
have  been  especially  localized. 

2  The   "healing  sleep"  employed  at  these  temples  is  described,  in  a 
kind  of  blasphemous  parody,  in  Aristophanes 's  Plutus.    (Significant  pas- 
sages are  quoted  in  Davis's  Readings  in  Ancient  History,  vol.  I,  pp. 258-261.) 


The  Physicians  of  Athens  79 

the  shrine  little  votive  tablets,1  usually  pictures  of  the 
diseased  parts  now  happily  healed,  or,  for  internal  maladies, 
a  written  statement  of  the  nature  of  the  disease.  This  is 
naturally  very  encouraging  to  later  patients  :  they  gain  con- 
fidence by  knowing  that  many  cases  similar  to  their  own 
have  been  thus  cured. 

These  visits  to  the  healing  temples  are,  however,  expen- 
sive :  not  everybody  has  entire  faith  in  them ;  for  many 
lesser  ills  also  they  are  wholly  unnecessary.  Let  us  look, 
then,  at  the  regular  physicians. 

65.  An  Athenian  Physician's  Office.  —  There  are  salaried 
public  medical  officers  in  Athens,  and  something  like  a  public 
dispensary  where  free  treatment  is  given  citizens  in  simple 
cases  ;  but  the  average  man  seems  to  prefer  his  own  doctor.2 
We  may  enter  the  office  of  Menon,  a  "  regular  private  prac- 
titioner," and  look  about  us.  The  office  itself  is  a  mere 
open  shop  in  the  front  of  a  house  near  the  Agora ;  and,  like 
a  barber's  shop,  is  something  of  a  general  lounging  place. 
In  the  rear  one  or  two  young  disciples  (doctors  in  embryo) 
and  a  couple  of  slaves  are  pounding  up  drugs  in  mortars. 
There  are  numbers  of  bags  of  dried  herbs  and  little  glass 
flasks  hanging  on  the  walls.  Near  the  entrance  is  a  statue 
of  Asclepius  the  Healer,  and  also  of  the  great  human  founder 
of  the  real  medical  science  among  the  Greeks  —  Hippocrates. 

Menon  himself  is  just  preparing  to  go  out  on  his  profes- 
sional calls.  He  is  a  handsome  man  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  takes  great  pains  with  his  personal  appearance.  His 
himation  is  carefully  draped.  His  finger  rings  have  excel- 
lent cameos.  His  beard  has  been  neatly  trimmed,  and  he 
has  just  bathed  and  scented  himself  with  delicate  Assyrian 

1  Somewhat  as  in  the  various  Catholic  pilgrimage  shrines  (e.g.  Lourdes) 
to-day. 

2  We  know  comparatively  little  of  these  public  physicians ;  probably 
they  were  mainly  concerned  with  the  health  of  the  army  and  naval  force, 
the  prevention  of  epidemics,  etc. 


80  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

nard.  He  will  gladly  tell  you  that  he  is  in  no  wise  a  fop, 
but  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  produce  a  pleasant 
personal  impression  upon  his  fastidious,  irritable  patients. 
Menon  himself  claims  to  have  been  a  personal  pupil  of  the 
great  Hippocrates,1  and  about  every  other  reputable  Greek 
physician  will  make  the  same  claim.  He  has  studied  more 
or  less  in  a  temple  of  Asclepius,  and  perhaps  has  been  a 
member  of  the  medical  staff  thereto  attached.  He  has  also 
become  a  member  of  the  Hippocratic  brotherhood,  a  semi- 
secret  organization,  associated  with  the  Asclepius  cult,  and 
carefully  cherishing  the  dignity  of  the  profession  and  the 
secret  arts  of  the  guild. 

66.  The  Physician's  Oath.  — The  oath  which  all  this 
brotherhood  has  sworn  is  noble  and  notable.  Here  are 
some  of  the  main  provisions :  — 

"  I  swear  by  Apollo  the  Physician,  and  Asclepius  and 
Hygeia ;  a  [Lady  Health]  and  Panaceia  [Lady  All-Cure]  to 
honor  as  my  parents  the  master  who  taught  me  this  art, 
and  to  admit  to  my  own  instruction  only  his  sons,  my  own 
sons,  and  those  who  have  been  duly  inscribed  as  pupils,  and 
who  have  taken  the  medical  oath,  and  no  others.  I  will 
prescribe  such  treatment  as  may  be  for  the  benefit  of  my 
patients,  according  to  my  best  power  and  judgment,  and 
preserve  them  from  anything  hurtful  or  mischievous.  I 
will  never,  even  if  asked,  administer  poison,  nor  advise  its 
use.  I  will  never  give  a  criminal  draught  to  a  woman.  I 
will  maintain  the  purity  and  integrity  of  my  art.  Wherever 
I  go,  I  will  abstain  from  all  mischief  or  corruption,  or  any 
immodest  action.  If  ever  I  hear  any  secret  I  will  not  divulge 
it.  If  I  keep  this  oath,  may  the  gods  give  me  success  in 
life  and  in  my  art.  If  I  break  this  oath,  may  all  the  reverse 
fall  upon  me." 2 

1  Who  was  still  alive,  an  extremely  old  man.  He  died  in  Thessaly  in 
357  B.C.,  at  an  alleged  age  of  104  years. 

8  For  the  unabridged  translation  of  this  oath,  see  Smith's  Dictionary  of 
Antiquities  (revised  edition),  vol.  II,  p.  154. 


The  Physicians  of  Athens  81 

67.  The  Skill  of  Greek  Physicians.  —  Menon's  skill  as  a 
physician  and  surgeon  is  considerable.  True,  he  has  only  a 
very  insufficient  conception  of  anatomy.  His  theoretical 
knowledge  is  warped,  but  he  is  a  shrewd  judge  of  human 
nature  and  his  practical  knowledge  is  not  contemptible.  In 
his  private  pharmacy  his  assistants  have  compounded  a 
great  quantity  of  drugs  which  he  knows  how  to  administer 
with  much  discernment.  He  has  had  considerable  experi- 
ence in  dealing  with  wounds  and  sprains,  such  as  are  com- 
mon in  the  wars  or  in  the  athletic  games.  He  understands 
that  Dame  Nature  is  a  great  healer,  who  is  to  be  assisted 
rather  than  coerced;  and  he  dislikes  resorting  to  violent 
remedies,  such  as  bleedings  and  strong  emetics.  Ordinary 
fevers  and  the  like  he  can  attack  with  success.  He  has  no 
modern  anaesthetics  or  opium,  but  has  a  very  insufficient 
substitute  in  mandragora.  He  can  treat  simple  diseases  of 
the  eye ;  and  he  knows  how  to  put  gold  filling  into  teeth. 
His  surgical  instruments,  however,  are  altogether  too  primi- 
tive. He  is  personally  cleanly ;  but  he  has  not  the  least  idea 
of  antiseptics ;  the  result  is  that  obscure  internal  diseases, 
calling  for  grave  operations,  are  likely  to  baffle  him.  He 
will  refuse  to  operate,  or  if  he  does  operate  the  chances  are 
against  the  patient.1  In  other  words,  his  medical  skill  is  far 
in  advance  of  his  surgery. 

Menon  naturally  busies  himself  among  the  best  families 
of  Athens,  and  commands  a  very  good  income.  He  counts 
it  part  of  his  equipment  to  be  able  to  persuade  his  patients, 
by  all  the  rules  of  logic  and  rhetoric,  to  submit  to  dis- 
agreeable treatment ;  and  for  that  end  has  taken  lessons  in 
informal  oratory  from  Isocrates  or  one  of  his  associates. 
Some  of  Menon's  competitors  (feeling  themselves  less  elo- 
quent) have  actually  a  paid  rhetorician  whom  they  can  take 

1  Seemingly  a  really  serious  operation  was  usually  turned  over  by  the 
local  physician  to  a  traveling  surgeon,  who  could  promptly  disappear  from 
the  neighborhood  if  things  went  badly. 


82  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

to   the  bedside  of  a  stubborn  invalid,  to  induce  him   by 
irrefutable  arguments  to  endure  an  amputation.1 

No  such  honor  of  course  is  paid  to  the  intellects  of  the 
poorer  fry,  who  swarm  in  at  Menon's  surgery.  Those  who 
cannot  pay  to  have  him  bandage  them  himself,  perforce  put 
up  with  the  secondary  skill  and  wisdom  of  the  "  disciples." 
The  drug-mixing  slaves  are  expected  to  salve  and  physic 
the  patients  of  their  own  class ;  but  there  seems  to  be  a  law 
against  allowing  them  to  attempt  the  treatment  of  free-born 
men. 

68.  Quacks  and  Charlatans.  —  Unluckily  not  everybody  is 
wise  enough  to  put  up  with  the  presumably  honest  efforts 
of  Menon's  underlings.  There  appears  to  be  no  law  against 
allowing  anybody  who  wishes  to  pose  as  a  physician,  and 
to  sell  his  inexperience  and  his  quack  nostrums.  Vendors 
of  every  sort  of  cure-all  abound,  as  well  as  creatures  who 
work  on  the  superstitious  and  pretend  to  cure  by  charms  and 
hocus-pocus.  In  the  market  there  is  such  a  swarm  of  these 
charlatans  of  healing  that  they  bring  the  whole  medical 
profession  into  contempt.  Certain  people  go  so  far  as  to 
distrust  the  efficacy  of  any  part  of  the  lore  of  Asclepius.  Saya 
one  poet  tartly :  — 

The  surgeon  Menedemos,  as  men  say, 

Touched  as  he  passed  a  Zeus  of  marble  white  ; 
Neither  the  marble  nor  his  Zeus-ship  might 

Avail  the  god  —  they  buried  him  to-day. 

And  again  even  to  dream  of  the  quacks  is  dangerous :  — 

Diophantes,  sleeping,  saw 

Hermas  the  physician : 
Diophantes  never  woke 

From  that  fatal  vision.2 

1  Plato  tells  how  Gorgias,  the  famous  rhetorician,  was  sometimes  thus 
hired .  A  truly  Greek  artifice  —  this  substitution  of  oratory  for  chloroform ! 

2 Both  of  these  quotations  probably  date  from  later  than  360  B.C.,  but 
they  are  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  general  opinion  of  Greek  quackery. 


The  Physicians  of  Athens  83 

All  in  all,  despite  Menon's  good  intentions  and  not 
despicable  skill,  it  is  fortunate  the  gods  have  made  "  Good 
Health"  one  of  their  commonest  gifts  to  the  Athenians. 
Constant  exercise  in  the  gymnasia,  occasional  service  in 
the  army,  the  absence  of  cramping  and  unhealthful  office 
work,  and  a  climate  which  puts  out-of-door  existence  at  a 
premium,  secure  for  them  a  general  good  health  that  com- 
pensates for  most  of  the  lack  of  a  scientific  medicine. 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE   FUNERALS. 

69.  An  Athenian's  Will.  —  All  Menon's  patients  are  to-day 
set  out  upon  the  road  to  recovery.     Hipponax,  his  rival,  has 
been  less  fortunate.     A  wealthy  and  elderly  patient,  Lyco- 
phron,  died  the  day  before  yesterday.     As  the  latter  felt  his 
end  approaching,  he  did  what  most  Athenians  may  put  off 
until  close  to  the  inevitable  hour  —  he  made  his  will,  and 
called  in  his  friends  to  witness  it ;  and  one  must  hope  there 
can  be  no  doubt  about  the  validity,  the  signets  attached,  etc., 
for  otherwise  the  heirs  may  find  themselves   in  a   pretty 
lawsuit. 

The  will  begins  in  this  fashion :  "  The  Testament  of  Lyco- 
phron  the  Marathonian.1  May  all  be  well :  —  but  if  I  do  not 
recover  from  this  sickness,  thus  do  I  bestow  my  estate." 
Then  in  perfectly  cold-blooded  fashion  he  proceeds  to  give 
his  young  wife  and  the  guardianship  of  his  infant  daughter 
to  Stobiades,  a  bachelor  friend  who  will  probably  marry  the 
widow  within  two  months  or  less  of  the  funeral.  Lycophron 
gives  also  specific  directions  about  his  tomb;  he  gives 
legacies  of  money  or  jewelry  to  various  old  associates ;  he 
mentions  certain  favorite  slaves  to  receive  freedom,  and  as 
specifically  orders  certain  others  (victims  of  his  displeasure) 
to  be  kept  in  bondage.  Lastly  three  reliable  friends  are 
named  as  executors. 

70.  The  Preliminaries  of  a  Funeral.  —  An  elaborate  funeral 
is  the  last  perquisite  of  every  Athenian.     Even  if  Lycophron 

'In  all  Athenian  legal  documents,  it  was  necessary  to  give  the  deme  of 
the  interested  party  or  parties. 

84 


The  Funerals  85 


had  been  a  poor  man  he  would  now  receive  obsequies 
seemingly  far  out  of  proportion  to  his  estate  and  income. 
It  is  even  usual  in  Greek  states  to  have  laws  restraining  the 
amount  which  may  be  spent  upon  funerals,  —  otherwise 
great  sums  may  be  literally  "  burned  up  "  upon  the  funeral 
pyres.  When  now  the  tidings  go  out  that  Lycophron's 
nearest  relative  has  "closed  his  mouth,"  after  he  has 
breathed  his  last,  all  his  male  kinsfolk  and  all  other  persons 
who  hope  to  be  remembered  in  the  will  promptly  appear  in 
the  Agora  in  black  himatia1  and  hasten  to  the  barber  shops 
to  have  their  heads  shaved.  The  widow  might  shave 
her  hair  likewise,  with  all  her  slave  maids,  did  not  her  hus- 
band, just  ere  his  death,  positively  forbid  such  disfigure- 
ments. The  women  of  the  family  take  the  body  in  charge 
the  minute  the  physician  has  declared  that  all  is  over.  The 
customary  obol  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  corpse,2  and  the 
body  is  carefully  washed  in  perfumed  water,  clothed  in 
festal  white ;  then  woolen  fillets  are  wound  around  the  head, 
and  over  these  a  crown  of  vine  leaves.  So  arrayed,  the  body 
is  ready  to  be  laid  out  on  a  couch  in  the  front  courtyard  of 
the  house,  with  the  face  turned  toward  the  door  so  as  to 
seem  to  greet  everybody  who  enters.  In  front  of  the  house 
there  stands  a  tall  earthen  vase  of  water,  wherewith  the 
visitors  may  give  themselves  a  purifying  sprinkling,  after 
quitting  the  polluting  presence  of  a  dead  body. 

71.  Lamenting  the  Dead.  —  Around  this  funeral  bed  the 
relatives  and  friends  keep  a  gloomy  vigil.  The  Athenians 
after  all  are  southern  born,  and  when  excited  seem  highly 
emotional  people.  There  are  stern  laws  dating  from  Solon's 

1  In  the  important  city  of  Argos,  however,  white  was  the  proper  funeral 
color. 

2  This  was  not  originally  (as  later  asserted)  a  fee  to  Charon  the  ferryman 
to  Hades,  but  simply  a  "minimum  precautionary  sum,  for  the  dead  man's 
use"  (Dr.  Jane  Harrison),  placed  in  the  mouth,  where  a  Greek  usually 
kept  his  small  change. 


86  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

day  against  the  worst  excesses,  but  what  now  occurs  seems 
violent  enough.  The  widow  is  beating  her  breast,  tearing 
her  hair,  gashing  her  cheeks  with  her  finger  nails.  Lyco- 
phron's  elderly  sister  has  ashes  sprinkled  upon  her  gray 
head  and  ever  and  anon  utters  piteous  wails.  The  slave 
women  in  the  background  keep  up  a  hideous  moaning.  The 
men  present  do  not  think  it  undignified  to  utter  loud  lamenta- 
tion and  to  shed  frequent  tears.  Least  commendable  of  all 
(from  a  modern  standpoint)  are  the  hired  dirge  singers,  who 
maintain  a  most  melancholy  chant,  all  the  time  beating  their 
breasts,  and  giving  a  perfect  imitation  of  frantic  grief.  This 
has  probably  continued  day  and  night,  the  mourners  perhaps 
taking  turns  by  relays. 

All  in  all  it  is  well  that  Greek  custom  enjoins  the  actual 
funeral,  at  least,  on  the  second  day  following  the  death.1 
The  "  shade  "  of  the  deceased  is  not  supposed  to  find  rest  in 
the  nether  world  until  after  the  proper  obsequies.2  To  let  a 
corpse  lie  several  days  without  final  disposition  will  bring 
down  on  any  family  severe  reproach.  In  fact,  on  few  points 
are  the  Greeks  more  sensitive  than  on  this  subject  of  prompt 
burial  or  cremation.  After  a  land  battle  the  victors  are 
bound  never  to  push  their  vengeance  so  far  as  to  refuse  a 
"  burial  truce  "  to  the  vanquished ;  and  it  is  a  doubly  unlucky 
admiral  who  lets  his  crews  get  drowned  in  a  sea  fight, 
without  due  effort  to  recover  the  corpses  afterward  and  to 
give  them  proper  disposition  on  land. 

72.  The  Funeral  Procession.  —  The  day  after  the  "  laying- 
out  "  comes  the  actual  funeral.  Normally  it  is  held  as  early 
as  possible  in  the  morning,  before  the  rising  of  the  sun. 
Perhaps  while  on  the  way  to  the  Agora  we  have  passed, 


1  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Greeks  had  no  skilled  embalmers  at 
their  service,  and  that  they  lived  in  a  decidedly  warm  climate. 

2  See  the  well-known  case  of  the    wandering  shade   of   Patroclus  de- 
manding the  proper  obsequies  from  Achilles  (Iliad,  XXIII.  71). 


The  Funerals  87 


well  outside  the  city,  such  a  mournful  procession.  The 
youngest  and  stoutest  of  the  male  relatives  carry  the  litter  : 
although  if  Lycophron's  relatives  had  desired  a  really  extrav- 
agant display  they  might  have  employed  a  mule  car.  Ahead 
of  the  bier  march  the  screaming  flute  players,  earning  their 
fees  by  no  melodious  din.  Then  comes  the  litter  itself  with 
the  corpse  arrayed  magnificently  for  the  finalities,  a  honey 
cake  set  in  the  hands,1  a  flask  of  oil  placed  under  the  head. 
After  this  come  streaming  the  relatives  in  irregular  pro- 
cession :  the  widow  and  the  chief  heir  (her  prospective  second 
husband  !)  walking  closest,  and  trying  to  appear  as  demon- 
strative as  possible  :  nor  (merely  because  the  company  is 
noisy  and  not  stoical  in  its  manner)  need  we  deny  that  there 
is  abundant  gemiine  grief.  All  sorts  of  male  acquaintances 
of  the  deceased  bring  up  the  rear,  since  it  is  good  form  to  pro- 
claim to  wide  Athens  that  Lycophron  had  hosts  of  friends.2 

73.  The  Funeral  Pyre.  —  So  the  procession  moves  through 
the  still  gloomy  streets  of  the  city,  —  doubtless  needing 
torch  bearers  as  well  as  flute  players,  —  and  out  through  some 
gate,  until  the  line  halts  in  an  open  field,  or  better,  in  a  quiet 
and  convenient  garden.  Here  the  great  funeral  pyre  of 
choice  dry  fagots,  intermixed  with  aromatic  cedar,  has  been 
heaped.  The  bier  is  laid  thereon.  There  are  no  strictly  re- 
ligious ceremonies.  The  company  stands  in  a  respectful 
circle,  while  the  nearest  male  kinsman  tosses  a  pine  link 
upon  the  oil-soaked  wood.  A  mighty  blaze  leaps  up  to 
heaven,  sending  its  ruddy  brightness  against  the  sky  now 
palely  flushed  with  the  bursting  dawn.  The  flutists  play  in 
softer  measures.  As  the  fire  rages  a  few  of  the  relatives  toss 

1  The  original  idea  of  the  honey  cake  was  simply  that  it  was  a  friendly 
present  to  the  infernal  gods ;  later  came  the  conceit  that  it  was  a  sop  to 
fling  to  the  dog  Cerberus,  who  guarded  the  entrance  to  Hades. 

3  Women,  unless  they  were  over  sixty  years  of  age,  were  not  allowed  to 
join  in  funeral  processions  unless  they  were  first  cousins,  or  closer  kin, 
of  the  deceased. 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


upon  it  pots  of  rare  unguents ;  and  while  the  flames  die 
down,  thrice  the  company  shout  their  farewells,  calling  their 
departed  friend  by  name  —  "  Lycophron !  Lycophron  !  Ly- 
cophron ! " 

So  fierce  is  the  flame  it  soon  sinks  into  ashes.  As  soon  as 
these  are  cool  enough  for  safety  (a  process  hastened  by 
pouring  on  water  or  wine)  the  charred  bones  of  the  deceased 
are  tenderly  gathered  up  to  be  placed  in  a  stately  urn.  The 
company,  less  formally  now,  returns  to  Athens,  and  that  night 
there  will  probably  be  a  great  funeral  feast  at  the  house  of 
the  nearest  relative,  everybody  eating  and  drinking  to 
capacity  "  to  do  Lycophron  full  honor  " ;  for  it  is  he  who  is 
imagined  as  being  now  for  the  last  time  the  host. 

74.  Honors  to  the  Memory  of  the  Dead.  —  Eeligion  seems 
to  have  very  little  place  in  the  Athenian  funeral :  there  are 
no  priests  present,  no  prayers,  no  religious  hymns.  But  the 
dead  man  is  now  conceived  as  being,  in  a  very  humble  and 
intangible  way,  a  deity  himself :  his  good  will  is  worth  pro- 
pitiating ;  his  memory  is  not  to  be  forgotten.  On  the  third, 
ninth,  and  thirtieth  days  after  the  funeral  there  are  simple 
religious  ceremonies  with  offerings  of  garlands,  fruits,  liba- 
tions and  the  like,  at  the  new  tomb ;  and  later  at  certain 
times  in  the  year  these  will  be  repeated.  The  more  en- 
lightened will  of  course  consider  these  merely  graceful  re- 
membrances of  a  former  friend  ;  but  there  is  a  good  deal  of 
primitive  ancestor  worship  even  in  civilized  Athens. 

Burning  is  the  usual  method  for  the  Greeks  to  dispose  of 
their  dead,  but  the  burial  of  unburned  bodies  is  not  un- 
known to  them.  Probably,  however,  the  rocky  soil  and  the 
limited  land  space  around  Athens  make  regular  cemeteries 
less  convenient  than  elsewhere :  still  it  would  have  been 
nothing  exceptional  if  Lycophron  had  ordered  in  his  will 
that  he  be  put  in  a  handsome  pottery  coffin  to  be  placed  in 
a  burial  ground  pertaining  to  his  family. 


ATHENIAN  FUNERAL  MONUMENT. 


A  lady  is  gazing  upon  her  casket  of  jewels  before  bidding  them  eternal 
farewell.    Note  the  admirable  restraint  yet  pathos  of  the  scene. 


The  Funerals  89 


75.  The  Beautiful  Funeral  Monuments.  —  If  the  noisy 
funeral  customs  permitted  to  the  Athenians  may  repel  a 
later  day  observer,  there  can  be  only  praise  for  the  Athenian 
tombs,  or  rather  the  funeral  monuments  (stelce)  which  might 
be  set  over  the  urns  of  ashes  or  the  actual  coffins.  Nearly 
every  Athenian  family  has  a  private  field  which  it  uses  for 
sepulchral  purposes:  but  running  outside  of  the  city,  near 
the  Itonian  Gate  along  the  road  to  the  Peirseus,  the  space 
to  either  side  of  the  highway  has  been  especially  appropri- 
ated for  this  purpose.  Walking  hither  along  this  "  Street  of 
the  Tombs  "  we  can  make  a  careful  survey  of  some  of  the 
most  touching  memorials  of  Athenian  life. 

The  period  of  hot,  violent  grief  seems  now  over;  the 
mourners  have  settled  down  in  their  dumb  sense  of  loss. 
This  spirit  of  calm,  noble  resignation  is  what  is  expressed 
upon  these  monuments.  All  is  chaste,  dignified,  simple. 
There  are  no  labored  eulogies  of  the  deceased ;  no  frantic 
expressions  of  sorrow ;  no  hint  (let  it  be  also  said)  of  any 
hope  of  reunions  in  the  Hereafter.  Sometimes  there  is 
simply  a  plain  marble  slab  or  pillar  marked  with  the  name 
of  the  deceased;  and  with  even  the  more  elaborate  monu- 
ments the  effort  often  is  to  concentrate,  into  one  simple 
scene,  the  best  and  worthiest  that  was  connected  with  the 
dear  departed.  Here  is  the  noble  mother  seated  in  quiet 
dignity  extending  her  hand  in  farewell  to  her  sad  but 
steadfast  husband,  while  her  children  linger  wonderingly 
by;  here  is  the  athlete,  the  young  man  in  his  pride, 
depicted  not  in  the  moment  of  weakness  and  death,  but 
scraping  his  glorious  form  with  his  strigil,  after  some 
victorious  contest  in  the  games;  here  is  the  mounted 
warrior,  slain  before  Corinth  whilst  battling  for  his  country, 
represented  in  the  moment  of  overthrowing  beneath  his 
flying  charger  some  despairing  foe.  We  are  made  to  feel 
that  these  Athenians  were  fair  and  beautiful  in  their  lives, 
and  that  in  their  deaths  they  were  not  unworthy.  And  we 


90  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

marvel,  and  admire  these  monuments  the  more  when  we 
realize  that  they  are  not  the  work  of  master  sculptors  but 
of  ordinary  paid  craftsmen.  We  turn  away  praising  the 
city  that  could  produce  such  noble  sculpture  and  call  it 
mere  handicraft,  and  praising  also  the  calm  poise  of  soul, 
uncomforted  by  revealed  religion,  which  could  make  these 
monuments  common  expressions  of  the  bitterest,  deepest, 
most  vital  emotions  which  can  ever  come  to  men.1 

1  As  Von  Falke  (Greece  and  Rome,  p.  141)  well  says  of  these  monuments, 
"  No  skeleton,  no  scythe,  no  hour-glass  is  in  them  to  bring  a  shudder  to 
the  beholder.  As  they  [the  departed]  were  in  life,  mother  and  daughter, 
husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children,  here  they  are  represented  to- 
gether, sitting  or  standing,  clasping  each  other's  hands  and  looking  at  one 
another  with  love  and  sympathy  as  if  it  were  their  customary  affectionate 
intercourse.  What  the  stone  perpetuates  is  the  love  and  happiness  they 
enjoyed  together,  while  yet  they  rejoiced  in  life  and  the  light  of  day." 


CHAPTER   XII. 
TRADE,   MANUFACTURES,   AND   BANKING. 

76.  The  Commercial  Importance   of  Athens.  —  While   the 
funeral  mourners  are  wending  their  slow  way  homeward  we 
have  time  to  examine  certain  phases  of  Athenian  life  at 
which  we  have  previously  glanced,  then  ignored.     Certain 
it  is,  most  "noble  and  good"  gentlemen  delight  to  be  con- 
sidered  persons   of  polite   uncommercial   leisure;   equally 
certain  it  is  that  a  good  income  is  about  as  desirable  in 
Athens  as  anywhere  else,  and  many  a  stately  "Eupatrid," 
who  seems  to  spend  his  whole  time  in  dignified  walks,  dis- 
coursing on  politics  or  philosophy,  is  really  keenly  interested 
in  trades,  factories,  or  farms,  of  which  his  less  nobly  born 
stewards  have  the  active  management.     Indeed  one  of  the 
prime  reasons  for  Athenian  greatness  is  the  fact  that  Athens 
is  the  richest  and  greatest  commercial  city  of  Continental 
Hellas,  with  only  Corinth  as  a  not  formidable  rival.1 

To  understand  the  full  extent  of  Athenian  commercial 
prosperity  we  must  visit  the  Peiraeus,  yet  in  the  main  city 
itself  will  be  found  almost  enough  examples  of  the  chief 
kinds  of  economic  activity. 

77.  The   Manufacturing  Activities  of  Athens.  —  Attica  is 
the   seat  of    much   manufacturing.      Go  to  the  suburbs : 
everywhere  is  the  rank  odor  of  the  tanneries ;  down  at  the 

1  Syracuse  in  distant  Sicily  was  possibly  superior  to  Athens  in  com- 
merce and  economic  prosperity,  although  incomparably  behind  her  in  the 
empire  of  the  arts  and  literature. 

91 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


harbors  are  innumerable  ship  carpenters  and  sail  and 
tackle  makers,  busy  in  the  shipyards ;  from  almost  every 
part  of  the  city  comes  the  clang  of  hammer  and  anvil  where 
hardware  of  all  kinds  is  being  wrought  in  the  smithies  ;  and 
finally  the  pottery  makers  are  so  numerous  as  to  require 
special  mention  hereafter.  But  no  list  of  all  the  manu- 
facturing activities  is  here  possible ;  enough  that  practically 
every  known  industry  is  represented  in  Athens,  and  the 


AT  THE  SMITHY. 

"industrial "  class  is  large.1  A  very  large  proportion  of  the 
industrial  laborers  are  slaves,  but  by  no  means  all.  A  good 
many  are  real  Athenian  citizens ;  a  still  larger  proportion 
are  "  metics "  (resident  foreigners  without  political 
rights).  The  competition  of  slave  labor,  however,  tends 
to  keep  wages  very  low.  An  unskilled  laborer  will  have  to 
be  content  with  his  3  obols  (9  cents)  per  day ;  but  a  trained 
workman  will  demand  a  drachma  (18  cents)  or  even  more. 
There  are  no  labor  unions  or  trade  guilds.  A  son  usually, 

1  For  a  very  suggestive  list  of  the  numerous  kinds  of  Greek  industries 
(practically  all  of  which  would  be  represented  in  Athens)  see  H.  J. 
Edwards,  in  Whibley's  Companion  to  Greek  Studies,  p.  431. 


Trade,  Manufactures,  and  Banking       93 

though  not  invariably,  follows  his  father's  profession. 
Each  industry  and  line  of  work  tends  to  have  its  own  little 
street  or  alley,  preferably  leading  off  the  Agora.  "The 
Street  of  the  Marble  Workers,"  the  "Street  of  the  Box 
Makers,"  and  notably  the  "  Street  of  the  Potters  "  contain 
nearly  all  the  workshops  of  a  given  kind.  Probably  you 
can  find  no  others  in  the  city.  Prices  are  regulated  by  cus- 
tom and  competition ;  in  case  any  master  artisan  is  sus- 
pected of  "  enhancing  "  the  price  of  a  needful  commodity, 
or  his  shady  business  methods  seem  dangerous  to  the  public, 
there  is  no  hesitation  in  invoking  an  old  law  or  passing  a 
new  one  in  the  Assembly  to  bring  him  to  account. 

Manufacturers  are  theoretically  under  a  social  ban,  and 
indeed  yonder  petty  shoemaker,  who,  with  his  two  appren- 
tices, first  makes  up  his  cheap  sandals,  then  sells  them  over 
the  low  counter  before  his  own  shop,  is  very  far  from  being 
a  "  leisurely  "  member  of  the  "  noble  and  the  good."  But 
he  who,  like  the  late  Lycophron,  owns  a  furniture  factory 
employing  nigh  threescore  slaves,  can  be  sure  of  lying 
down  on  his  couch  at  a  dinner  party  among  the  very  best ; 
for,  as  in  twentieth  century  England,  even  manufacture  and 
"  trade,"  if  on  a  sufficiently  large  scale,  cover  a  multitude  of 
social  sins.1 

78.  The  Commerce  of  Athens.  —  Part  of  Athenian  wealth 
comes  from  the  busy  factories,  great  and  small,  which  seem 
everywhere;  still  more  riches  come  in  by  the  great  com- 
merce which  will  be  found  centered  at  the  Peiraeus.  Here 
is  the  spacious  Deigma,  a  kind  of  exchange-house  where 
ship  masters  can  lay  out  samples  of  their  wares  on  display, 

1  Plato,  probably  echoing  thoughtful  Greek  opinion,  considered  it  bad 
for  manufacturers  to  be  either  too  wealthy  or  too  poor ;  thus  a  potter  get- 
ting too  rich  will  neglect  his  art,  and  grow  idle;  if,  however,  he  cannot 
afford  proper  tools,  he  will  manufacture  inferior  wares,  and  his  sons  will 
be  even  worse  workmen  than  he.  Such  comment  obviously  comes  from 
a  society  where  most  industrial  life  is  on  a  small  scale. 


94  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

and  sell  to  the  important  wholesalers,  who  will  transmit  to 
the  petty  shopkeepers  and  the  "  ultimate  consumer." l 

There  are  certain  articles  of  which  various  districts  make 
a  specialty,  and  which  Athens  is  constantly  importing : 
Boeotia  sends  chariots;  Thessaly,  easy  chairs;  Chios  and 
Miletos,  bedding ;  and  Miletos,  especially,  very  fine  woolens. 
Greece  in  general  looks  to  Syria  and  Arabia  for  the  much- 
esteemed  spices  and  perfumes ;  to  Egypt  for  papyri  for  the 
book  rolls ;  to  Babylonia  for  carpets.  To  discuss  the  whole 
problem  of  Athenian  commerce  would  require  a  book  in 
itself;  but  certain  main  facts  stand  out  clearly.  One  is 
that  Attica  herself  has  extremely  few  natural  products  to 
export  —  only  her  olive  oil,  her  Hymettus  honey,  and  her 
magnificent  marbles  —  dazzling  white  from  Pentelicos,  gray 
from  Hymettus,  blue  or  black  from  Eleusis.  Again  we 
soon  notice  the  great  part  which  grain  plays  in  Athenian 
commerce.  Attica  raises  such  a  small  proportion  of  the 
necessary  breadstuffs,  and  so  serious  is  the  crisis  created  by 
any  shortage,  that  all  kinds  of  measures  are  employed  to 
compel  a  steady  flow  of  grain  from  the  Black  Sea  ports  into 
the  Peirseus.  Here  is  a  law  which  Demosthenes  quotes 
to  us :  — 

"It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  Athenian  or  any  metic  in 
Attica,  or  any  person  under  their  control  [i.e.  slave  or 
freedman]  to  lend  out  money  on  a  ship  which  is  not  com- 
missioned to  bring  grain  to  Athens." 

A  second  law,  even  more  drastic,  forbids  any  such  person 
to  transport  grain  to  any  harbor  but  the  Peirseus.  The 
penalties  for  evading  these  laws  are  terrific.  At  set  in- 
tervals also  the  Public  Assembly  (Ecclesia)  is  in  duty  bound 

1  Of  course  a  very  large  proportion  of  Greek  manufactured  wares  were 
never  exported,  but  were  sold  direct  by  the  manufacturer  to  the  consumer 
himself.  This  had  various  disadvantages ;  but  there  was  this  large  gain : 
only  one  profit  was  necessary  to  be  added  to  the  mere  cost  of  production. 
This  aided  to  make  Greece  (from  a  modern  standpoint)  a  paradise  of  low 
prices. 


Trade,  Manufactures,  and  Banking       95 

to  consider  the  whole  state  of  the  grain  trade :  while  the 
dealers  in  grain  who  seem  to  be  cornering  the  market,  and 
forcing  up  the  price  of  bread,  are  liable  to  prompt  and 
disastrous  prosecution. 

79.  The  Adventurous  Merchant  Skippers.  —  Foreign  trade 
at  Athens  is  fairly  well  systematized,  but  it  still  partakes  of 
the   nature  of  an   adventure.      The   name   for  "skipper" 
(naukleros)  is  often  used  interchangeably  for  "  merchant." 
Nearly  all  commerce  is  by  sea,  for  land  routes  are  usually 
slow,  unsafe,  and  inconvenient 1 ;  the  average  foreign  trader 
is  also  a  shipowner,  probably  too  the  actual  working  cap- 
tain.    He  has  no  special  commodity,  but  will  handle  every- 
thing which  promises  a  profit.     A  war  is  breaking  out  in 
Paphlagonia.     Away  he  sails  thither  with  a  cargo  of  good 
Athenian  shields,  swords,  and  lances.     He  loads  up  in  that 
barbarous  but  fertile  country  with  grain ;  but  leaves  enough 
room  in  his  hold  for  some  hundred  skins  of  choice  wine 
which  he  takes  aboard  at  Chios.     The  grain  and  wine  are 
disembarked  at  the  Peirseus.     Hardly  are  they  ashore  ere 
rumor  tells  him  that  salt  herring 2  are  abundant  and  espe- 
cially cheap  at  Corcyra ;  and  off  he  goes  for  a  return  cargo 
thereof,  just  lingering  long  enough  to  get  on  a  lading  of 
Athenian  olive  oil. 

80.  Athenian  Money-changers  and  Bankers.  —  An  important 
factor  in  the  commerce  of  Athens  is  the  "  Money-changer." 
There  is  no  one  fixed  standard  of  coinage  for  Greece,  let  alone 
the  Barbarian  world.     Athens  strikes  its  money  on  a  stand- 
ard which  has  very  wide  acceptance,  but  Corinth  has  an- 
other standard,  and  a  great  deal  of  business  is  also  transacted 
in  Persian  gold  darics.     The  result  is  that  at  the  Peirseus 

1  Naturally  there  was  a  safe  land  route  from  Athens  across  the  Isthmus 
to  Corinth  and  thence  to  Sparta  or  towards  Elis ;  again,  there  would  be 
fair  roads  into  Bceotia. 

2  Salt  fish  were  a  very  usual  and  important  article  of  Greek  commerce. 


96  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

and  near  the  Agora  are  a  number  of  little  "  tables  "  where 
alert  individuals,  with  strong  boxes  beside  them,  are  ready 
to  sell  foreign  coins  to  would-be  travelers,  or  exchange 
darics  for  Attic  drachmae,  against  a  pretty  favorable 
commission. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Athenian  banker ;  but  from 
being  a  mere  exchanger  he  has  often  passed  far  beyond,  to 
become  a  real  master  of  credit  and  capital.  There  are  sev- 
eral of  these  highly  important  gentlemen  who  now  have  a 
business  and  fortune  equal  to  that  of  the  famous  Pasion, 
who  died  in  370  B.C.  While  the  firm  of  Pasion  and  Company 
was  at  its  height,  the  proprietor  derived  a  net  income  of  at 
least  100  minse  (over  $1800)  per  year  from  his  banking; 
and  more  than  half  as  much  extra  from  a  shield  factory.1 

81.  A  Large  Banking  Establishment. — Enter  now  the 
"tables"  of  Nicanor.  The  owner  is  a  metic;  perhaps  he 
claims  to  come  from  Rhodes,  but  the  shrewd  cast  of  his  eye 
and  the  dark  hue  of  his  skin  gives  a  suggestion  of  the  Syrian 
about  him.  In  his  open  office  a  dozen  young  half-naked 
clerks  are  seated  on  low  chairs  —  each  with  his  tablets 
spread  out  upon  his  knees  laboriously  computing  long 
sums.2  The  proprietor  himself  acts  as  the  cashier.  He  has 
not  neglected  the  exchange  of  foreign  moneys ;  but  that  is  a 
mere  incidental.  His  first  visitor  this  morning  presents  a 
kind  of  letter  of  credit  from  a  correspondent  in  Syracuse 
calling  for  one  hundred  drachmae.  "Your  voucher?"  asks 
Nicanor.  The  stranger  produces  the  half  of  a  coin  broken  in 
two  across  the  middle.  The  proprietor  draws  a  similar  half 

1  These  sums  seem  absurdly  small  for  a  great  money  magnate,  but  the 
very  high  purchasing  power  of  money  in  Athens  must  be  borne  in  mind. 
We  know  a  good  deal  about  Pasion  and  his  business  from  the  speeches 
which  Demosthenes  composed  in  the  litigation  which  arose  over  his  estate. 

a  Without  the  Arabic  system  of  numerals,  elaborate  bookkeeping  surely 
presented  a  sober  face  to  the  Greeks.  Their  method  of  numeration  was 
very  much  like  that  with  the  so-called  Roman  numerals. 


Trade,  Manufactures,  and  Banking       97 

coin  from  a  chest.  The  parts  match  exactly,  and  the  money 
is  paid  on  the  spot.  The  next  coiner  is  an  old  acquaintance, 
a  man  of  wealth  and  reputation;  he  is  followed  by  two 
slaves  bearing  a  heavy  talent  of  coined  silver  which  he 
wishes  the  banker  to  place  for  him  on  an  advantageous  loan, 
against  a  due  commission.  The  third  visitor  is  a  well-born 
but  fast  and  idle  young  man  who  is  squandering  his  patri- 
mony on  flute  girls  and  chariot  horses.  He  wishes  an 
advance  of  ten  minae,  and  it  is  given  him — against  the  mort- 
gage of  a  house,  at  the  ruinous  interest  of  36  per  cent,  for 
such  prodigals  are  perfectly  fair  prey.  Another  visitor  is 
a  careful  and  competent  ship  merchant  who  is  fitting  for  a 
voyage  to  Crete,  and  who  requires  a  loan  to  buy  his  return 
cargo.  Ordinary  interest,  well  secured,  is  18  per  cent,  but 
a  sea  voyage,  even  at  the  calmest  season,  is  counted  extra 
hazardous.  The  skipper  must  pay  24  per  cent  at  least. 
A  poor  tradesman  also  appears  to  raise  a  trifle  by  pawning 
two  silver  cups ;  and  an  unlucky  farmer,  who  cannot  meet 
his  loan,  persuades  the  banker  to  extend  the  time  "just 
until  the  next  moon  " x  —  of  course  at  an  unmerciful  com- 
pounding of  interest. 

82.  Drawbacks  to  the  Banking  Business.  —  Nicanor  has  no 
paper  money  to  handle,  no  stocks,  no  bonds,  —  and  the  line 
between  legitimate  interest  and  scandalous  usury  is  by  no 
means  clearly  drawn.  There  is  at  least  one  good  excuse  for 
demanding  high  interest.  It  is  notoriously  hard  to  collect 
bad  debts.  Many  and  many  a  clever  debtor  has  persuaded 
an  Athenian  jury  that  all  taking  of  interest  is  somewhat 
immoral,  and  the  banker  has  lost  at  least  his  interest,  some- 
times too  his  principal.  So  long  as  this  is  the  case,  a 
banker's  career  has  its  drawbacks ;  and  Demosthenes  in  a 

1  "  Watching  the  moon,"  i.e.  the  end  of  the  month  when  the  debts  be- 
come due,  appears  to  have  been  the  melancholy  recreation  of  many  Athe- 
nian debtors.  See  Aristophanes's  Clouds,  1.  18. 


98  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

recent  speech  has  commended  the  choice  by  Pasion's  son  of 
a  factory  worth  60  minae  per  year,  instead  of  his  father's 
banking  business  worth  nominally  100.  The  former  was  so 
much  more  secure  than  an  income  depending  on  "  other 
people's  money ! " 

Finally  it  must  be  said  that  while  Nicanor  and  Pasion 
have  been  honorable  and  justly  esteemed  men,  many  of 
their  colleagues  have  been  rogues.  Many  a  "  table  "  has  been 
closed  very  suddenly,  when  its  owner  absconded,  or  col- 
lapsed in  bankruptcy,  and  the  unlucky  depositors  and 
creditors  have  been  left  penniless,  during  the  "rearrange- 
ment of  the  tables,"  as  the  euphemism  goes. 

83.  The  Pottery  of  Athens.  —  There  is  one  other  form  of 
economic  activity  in  Athens  which  deserves  our  especial 
notice,  different  as  it  is  from  the  bankers'  tables,  —  the 
manufacture  of  earthen  vases.  A  long  time  might  be  spent 
investigating  the  subject;  here  there  is  room  only  for  a 
hasty  glance.  For  more  than  two  hundred  years  Attica 
has  been  supplying  the  world  with  a  pottery  which  is  in 
some  respects  superior  to  any  that  has  gone  before,  and 
also  (all  things  considered)  to  any  that  will  follow,  through 
nigh  two  and  a  half  millenniums.  The  articles  are  pri- 
marily tall  vases  and  urns,  some  for  mere  ornament  or  for 
religious  purposes, — some  for  very  humble  household  utility; 
however,  besides  the  regular  vases  there  is  a  great  variety 
of  dishes,  plates,  pitchers,  bowls,  and  cups  all  of  the  same 
general  pattern,  —  a  smooth,  black  glaze 1  covered  with  fig- 
ures in  the  delicate  red  of  the  unglazed  clay.  At  first  the 
figures  had  been  in  black  and  the  background  in  red,  but  by 
about  500  B.C.  the  superiority  of  the  black  backgrounds  had 
been  fully  realized  and  the  process  perfected.  For  a  long 
time  Athens  had  a  monopoly  of  this  beautiful  earthen  ware, 
but  now  in  360  B.C.  there  are  creditable  manufactories  in 

1  Sometimes  this  glaze  tended  to  a  rich  olive  green  or  deep  brown. 


Trade,  Manufactures,  and  Banking       99 

other  cities,  and  especially  in  the  Greek  towns  of  Southern 
Italy.  The  Athenian  industry  is,  however,  still  consider- 
able ;  in  fifty  places  up  and  down  the  city,  but  particularly 
in  the  busy  quarter  of  the  Ceramicus,  the  potters'  wheels  are 
whirling,  and  the  glazers  are  adding  the  elegant  patterns. 

84.  Athenian  Pottery  an  Expression  of  the  Greek  Sense  of 
Beauty.  —  Athens  is  proud  of  her  traditions  of  naval  and 
military  glory ;  of  the  commerce  of  the  Peirseus ;  of  her 
free  laws  and  constitution ;  of  her  sculptured  temples,  her 
poets,  her  rhetoricians  and  philosophers.  Almost  equally 
well  might  she  be  proud  of  her  vases.  They  are  not  made 
—  let  us  bear  clearly  in  mind  —  by  avowed  artists,  servants 
of  the  Muses  and  of  the  Beautiful ;  they  are  the  regular 
commercial  products  of  work-a-day  craftsmen.  But  what 
craftsmen !  In  the  first  place,  they  have  given  to  every 
vase  and  dish  a  marvelous  individuality.  There  seems  to 
be  absolutely  no  duplication  of  patterns.1  Again,  since 
these  vases  are  made  for  Greeks,  they  must  —  no  matter 
how  humble  and  commonplace  their  use  —  be  made  beauti- 
ful—  elegantly  shaped,  well  glazed,  and  well  painted: 
otherwise,  no  matter  how  cheap,  they  will  never  find  a 
market. 

The  process  of  manufacture  is  simple,  yet  it  needs  a 
masterly  touch.  After  the  potter  has  finished  his  work  at 
the  wheel  and  while  the  clay  is  still  soft,  the  decorator 
makes  his  rough  design  with  a  blunt-pointed  stylus.  A  line 
of  black  glaze  is  painted  around  each  figure.  Then  the  black 
background  is  freely  filled  in,  and  the  details  within  the 
figures  are  added.  A  surprisingly  small  number  of  deft  lines 
are  needed  to  bring  out  the  whole  picture.2  Sometimes  the 

1  It  is  asserted  that  of  the  many  thousands  of  extant  Greek  vases 
that  crowd  the  shelves  of  modern  museums,  there  are  nowhere  two 
patterns  exactly  alike. 

8  In  this  respect  the  Greek  vase  paintings  can  compete  with  the  best 
work  in  the  Japanese  prints. 


100  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

glaze  is  thinned  out  to  a  pale  brown,  to  help  in  the  draw- 
ing of  the  interior  contours.  When  the  design  is  completed, 
we  have  an  amount  of  life  and  expression  which  with  the 
best  potters  is  little  short  of  startling.  The  subjects  treated 
are  infinite,  as  many  as  are  the  possible  phases  of  Greek 
life.  Scenes  in  the  home  and  on  the  farm ;  the  boys  and 
their  masters  at  school ;  the  warriors,  the  merchants,  the 
priests  sacrificing,  the  young  gallants  serenading  a  sweet- 
heart ;  all  the  tales,  in  short,  of  poet-lore  and  mythology,  — 
time  would  fail  to  list  one  tenth  of  them.  Fairly  we  can 
assert  that  were  all  the  books  and  formal  inscriptions  about 
the  Athenians  to  be  blotted  out,  these  vase  paintings, 
almost  photographs  one  might  say,  of  Athenian  daily  life, 
would  give  us  back  a  very  wide  knowledge  of  the  habits  of 
the  men  in  the  city  of  Athena. 

The  potters  are  justly  proud  of  their  work ;  often  they  do 
not  hesitate  to  add  their  signatures,  and  in  this  way  later 
ages  can  name  the  "  craftsmen  "  who  have  transmitted  to 
them  these  objects  of  abiding  beauty.  The  designers  also 
are  accommodating  enough  to  add  descriptive  legends  of  the 
scenes  which  they  depict,  —  Achilles,  Hercules,  Theseus, 
and  all  the  other  heroes  are  carefully  named,  usually  with 
the  words  written  above  or  beside  them. 

The  pottery  of  Athens,  then,  is  truly  Athenian ;  that  is  to 
say,  it  is  genuinely  elegant,  ornamental,  simple,  and  dis- 
tinctive. The  best  of  these  great  vases  and  mixing  bowls  are 
works  of  art  no  less  than  the  sculptures  of  Phidias  upon 
the  Parthenon. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE   ARMED   FORCES  OF  ATHENS. 

85.  Military  Life  at  Athens.  —  Hitherto  we  have  seen  al- 
most nothing  save  the  peaceful  civic  side  of  Athenian  life, 
but  it  is  a  cardinal  error  to  suppose  that  art,  philosophy, 
farming,  manufacturing,  commerce,  and  bloodless  home 
politics  sum  up  the  whole  of  the  activities  of  Attica. 
Athens  is  no  longer  the  great  imperial  state  she  was  in  the 
days  of  Pericles,  but  she  is  still  one  of  the  greatest  military 
powers  in  Greece,1  and  on  her  present  armed  strength  rests 
a  large  share  of  her  prestige  and  prosperity.  Her  fleet, 
which  is  still  her  particular  boast,  must  of  course  be  seen 
at  the  Peiraeus ;  but  as  we  go  about  the  streets  of  the  main 
city  we  notice  many  men,  who  apparently  had  recently 
entered  their  house  doors  as  plain,  harmless  citizens,  now 
emerging,  clad  in  all  the  warrior's  bravery,  and  hastening 
towards  one  of  the  gates.  Evidently  a  review  is  to  be  held 
of  part  of  the  citizen  army  of  Athens.  If  we  wish,  we  can 
follow  and  learn  much  of  the  Greek  system  of  warfare  in 
general  and  of  the  Athenian  army  in  particular. 

Even  at  the  present  day,  when  there  is  plenty  of  com- 
plaint that  Athenians  are  not  willing  to  imitate  the  sturdy 
campaigning  of  their  fathers,  the  citizens  seem  always  at 
war,  or  getting  ready  for  it.  Every  citizen,  physically  fit, 
is  liable  to  military  service  from  his  eighteenth  to  his 
sixtieth  year.  To  make  efficient  soldiers  is  really  the  main 

1  Of  course  the  greatest  military  power  of  Greece  had  been  Sparta 
until  371  B.C.,  when  the  battle  of  Leuctra  made  Thebes  temporarily  "  the 
first  land  power." 

101 


102  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

end  of  the  constant  physical  exercise.  If  a  young  man 
takes  pride  in  his  hard  and  fit  body,  if  he  flings  spears  in 
the  stadium,  and  learns  to  race  in  full  armor,  if  he  goes  on 
long  marches  in  the  hot  sun,  if  he  sleeps  on  the  open  hill- 
side, or  lies  on  a  bed  of  rushes  watching  the  moon  rise  over 
the  sea,  —  it  is  all  to  prepare  himself  for  a  worthy  part  in 
the  "  big  day  "  when  Athens  will  confront  some  old  or  new 
enemy  on  the  battlefield.  A  great  deal  of  the  conversation 
among  the  younger  men  is  surely  not  about  Platonic  ideals, 
Demosthenes's  last  political  speech,  nor  the  best  fighting 
cocks;  it  is  about  spears,  shield-straps,  camping  ground, 
rations,  ambuscades,  or  the  problems  of  naval  warfare. 

It  is  alleged  with  some  show  of  justice  that  by  this  time 
Athenians  are  so  enamored  with  the  pleasures  of  peaceful 
life  that  they  prefer  to  pay  money  for  mercenary  troops 
rather  than  serve  themselves  on  distant  expeditions;  and 
certain  it  is  that  there  are  plenty  of  Arcadians,  Thracians, 
and  others,  from  the  nations  which  supply  the  bulk  of  the 
mercenaries,  always  in  Athenian  pay  in  the  outlying  gar- 
risons. Still  the  old  military  tradition  and  organization  for 
the  citizens  is  kept  up,  and  half  a  generation  later,  when 
the  freedom  of  Athens  is  blasted  before  Philip  the  Macedo- 
nian at  Chaeroneia,  it  will  be  shown  that  if  the  Athenian 
militia  does  not  know  how  to  conquer,  it  at  least  knows 
how  to  die.  So  we  gladly  follow  to  the  review,  and  gather 
our  information. 

86.  The  Organization  of  the  Athenian  Army.  —  After  a 
young  ephebus  has  finished  his  two  years  of  service  in  the 
garrisons  he  returns  home  subject  to  call  at  the  hour  of 
need.  When  there  is  necessity  to  make  up  an  army,  enough 
men  are  summoned  to  meet  the  required  number  and  no 
more.  Thus  for  a  small  force  only  the  eligibles  between 
say  twenty  and  twenty-four  years  of  age  would  be  sum- 
moned; but  in  a  crisis  all  the  citizens  are  levied  up  to 


The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens          103 

the  very  gray  beards.  The  levy  is  conducted  by  the  ten 
Strategi  (at  once  <  generals,  "admirals/  and « war  ministers '), 
who  control  the  whole  armed  power  of  Athens.  The 
recruits  summoned  have  to  come  with  three  days'  rations 
to  the  rendezvous,  usually  to  the  Lyceum  wrestling  ground 
just  outside  the  city.  In  case  of  a  general  levy  the  old 
men  are  expected  to  form  merely  a  home  guard  for  the  walls ; 
the  young  men  must  be  ready  for  hard  service  over  seas. 

The  organization  of  the  Athenian  army  is  very  simple ; 
each  of  the  ten  Attic  tribes  sends  its  own  special  battalion 
or  taxis,  which  is  large  or  small  according  to  the  total  size 
of  the  levy.1  These  taxeis  are  subdivided  into  companies  or 
lochoi,  of  about  an  average  of  100  men  each.  The  taxeis  are 
each  under  a  tribe-colonel  (taxiarch),  and  each  company 
under  its  captain  (locharch).  The  ten  strategi  theoretically 
command  the  whole  army  together,  but  since  bitter  experi- 
ence teaches  that  ten  generals  are  usually  nine  too  many, 
a  special  decree  of  the  people  often  entrusts  the  supreme 
command  of  a  force  to  one  commander,  or  at  most  to  not 
over  three.  The  other  strategi  must  conduct  other  expedi- 
tions, or  busy  themselves  with  their  multifarious  home 
duties. 

87.  The  Hoplites  and  the  Light  Troops.  —  The  unit  of  the 
Athenian  citizen  army,  like  practically  all  Greek  armies,  is 
the  heavy  armed  infantry  soldier,  the  hoplite.  An  army 
of  "  three  thousand  men  "  is  often  an  army  of  so  many  hop- 
lites,  unless  there  is  specific  statement  to  the  contrary. 
But  really  it  is  of  six  thousand  men,  to  be  entirely  accurate : 
for  along  with  every  hoplite  goes  an  attendant,  a  "  light- 
armed  man,"  either  a  poor  citizen  who  cannot  afford  a  reg- 
ular suit  of  armor,2  or  possibly  a  trusted  slave.  These 

1  Thus  if  3000  men  were  called  out,  the  average  taxis  would  be  300 
strong;  but  if  6000,  then  600. 

2  The  hoplite's  panoply  (see  description  later)  was  sufficiently  expen- 
sive to  imply  that  its  owner  was  at  least  a  man  in  tolerable  circumstances. 


104  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

"  light-armed  men "  carry  the  hoplites'  shields  until  the 
battle,  and  most  of  the  baggage.  They  have  javelins,  and 
sometimes  slings  and  bows.  They  act  as  skirmishers  before 
the  actual  battle:  and  while  the  hoplites  are  in  the  real 
death-grip  they  harass  the  foe  as  they  can,  and  guard  the 
camp.  When  the  fight  is  done  they  do  their  best  to  cover 
the  retreat,  or  slaughter  the  flying  foe  if  their  own  hoplites 
are  victorious. 

88.  The  Cavalry  and  the  Peltasts.  —  There  are  certain 
divisions  of  the  army  besides  the  hoplites  and  this  some- 
what ineffective  light  infantry.  There  is  a  cavalry  corps 
of  1000.  Wealthy  young  Athenians  are  proud  to  volunteer 
therein ;  it  is  a  sign  of  wealth  to  be  able  to  provide  your 
war  horse.  The  cavalry  too  is  given  the  place  of  honor  in 
the  great  religious  processions ;  and  there  is  plenty  of 
chance  for  exciting  scouting  service  on  the  campaign. 
Again,  the  cavalry  service  has  something  to  commend  it  in 
that  it  is  accounted  much  safer  than  the  infantry ! l  The 
cavalry  is,  however,  a  rather  feeble  fighting  instrument. 
Greek  riders  have  no  saddles  and  no  stirrups.  They  are 
merely  mounted  on  thin  horse  pads,  and  it  is  very  hard 
to  grip  the  horse  with  the  knees  tightly  enough  to  keep 
from  being  upset  ignominiously  while  wielding  the  spear. 
The  best  use  for  the  cavalry  perhaps  is  for  the  riders  to 
take  a  sheaf  of  javelins,  ride  up  and  discharge  them  at  the 
foe  as  skirmishers,  then  fall  back  behind  the  hoplites; 
though  after  the  battle  the  horsemen  will  have  plenty  to  do 
in  the  retreat  or  the  pursuit. 

The  Athenians  have  of  course  the  Scythian  police  archers 
to  send  into  any  battle  near  Athens;  they  can  also  hire 

1  Greeks  could  seldom  have  been  brought  to  imitate  the  reckless  medieval 
cavaliers.  The  example  of  Leonidas  at  Thermopylae  was  more  commended 
than  imitated.  Outside  of  Sparta  at  least,  few  Greeks  would  have  hesitated 
to  flee  from  a  battlefield,  when  the  day  (despite  their  proper  exertions) 
had  been  wholly  lost. 


The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens          105 

mercenary  archers  from  Crete,  but  the  Greek  bows  are  rel- 
atively feeble,  only  three  or  four  feet  long  — by  no  means 
equal  to  the  terrible  yew  bows  which  will  win  glory  for 
England  in  the  Middle  Ages.  There  has  also  come  into 
vogue,  especially  since  the  Peloponnesian  war,  an  improved 
kind  of  light-javelin-men,  —  the  "Peltasts,"  —  with  small 
shields,  and  light  armor,  but  with  extra  long  lances.  In 
recent  warfare  this  type  of  soldier,  carefully  trained  and 
agile,  has  been  known  to  defeat  bodies  of  the  old-style  over- 
encumbered  hoplites.1  Nevertheless,  most  veteran  soldiers 
still  believe  that  the  heavy  infantryman  is  everything,  and 
the  backbone  of  nearly  every  Greek  army  is  still  surely  the 
hoplite.  He  will  continue  to  be  the  regular  fighting  unit 
until  the  improved  "  phalanx,"  and  the  "  Companion  Cav- 
alry "  of  Philip  and  Alexander  of  Macedon  teach  the  cap- 
tains of  the  world  new  lessons. 

89.  The  Panoply  of  the  Hoplite.  —  We  have  passed  out  one 
of  the  gates  and  are  very  likely  in  a  convenient  open  space 
south  and  east  of  the  city  stretching  away  toward  the  ever 
visible  slopes  of  gray  Hymettus.  Here  is  a  suitable  parade 
ground.  The  citizen  soldiers  are  slipping  on  their  helmets 
and  tightening  up  their  cuirasses.  Trumpets  blow  from 
time  to  time  to  give  orders  to  "  fall  in  "  among  the  respec- 
tive lochoi  and  taxeis.  There  is  plenty  of  time  to  study  the 
arms  and  armor  of  the  hoplites  during  these  preliminaries. 

A  very  brief  glance  at  the  average  infantryman's  defen- 
sive weapons  tells  us  that  to  be  able  to  march,  maneuver, 
and  fight  efficiently  in  this  armor  implies  that  the  Athenian 
soldier  is  a  well-trained  athlete.  The  whole  panoply  weighs 
many  pounds.2  The  prime  parts  in  the  armor  are  the 

1  Especially  the  Athenian  general  Iphicrates  was  able  to  cut  to  pieces  a 
mora  (brigade)  of  Spartan  hoplites,  in  392  B.C.,  by  skilful  use  of  a  force 
of  peltasts. 

2  Possibly  fifty  or  more  —  we  have  no  correct  means  for  an  exact 
estimate. 


106  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

helmet,  the  cuirass,  the  greaves,  and  the  shield.  Every  able- 
bodied  citizen  of  moderate  means  has  this  outfit  hanging  in 
his  andronitis,  and  can  don  it  at  brief  notice.  The  helmet 
is  normally  of  bronze;  it  is  cut  away  enough  in  front  to 
leave  the  face  visible,  but  sometimes  a  cautious  individual 
will  insist  on  having  movable  plates  (which  can  be  turned 
up  and  down)  to  protect  the  cheeks.1  Across  the  top  there 

runs  a  firm  metal  ridge  to 
catch  any  hard  down- 
right blow,  and  set  into 
the  ridge  is  a  tall  nod- 
ding crest  either  of  horse- 
hair or  of  bright  feath- 
ers— in  either  case  the 
joy  and  glory  of  the 
wearer. 

Buckled  around  the 
soldier's  body  is  the  cui- 
rass. It  comprises  a 
breastplate  and  a  back 
piece  of  bronze,  joined  by 
thongs,  or  by  straps  with 
~  a  buckle.  The  metal 

Below  it  hangs  a  thick  fringe  of  stout  strips  of  leather 
strengthened  with  bright  metallic  studs,  and  reaching  half- 
way to  the  knees.  From  this  point  to  the  knees  the  legs 
are  bare,  but  next  come  the  greaves,  thin  pliable  plates  of 
bronze  fitted  to  the  shape  of  the  leg,  and  opening  at  the 
back.  They  have  to  be  slipped  on,  and  then  are  fastened 
at  knees  and  ankle  with  leathern  straps. 

1  The  "  Corinthian  "  type  of  helmets  came  more  closely  over  the  face,  and 
the  cheek  protectors  were  not  movable ;  these  helmets  were  much  like  th« 
closed  helms  of  the  medieval  knights.  The  Spartans,  in  their  contempt  for 
danger,  wore  plain  pointed  steel  caps  which  gave  relatively  little  protection. 


The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens          107 

But  the  warrior's  main  protection  is  his  shield.  With  a 
strong,  large  shield  you  can  fight  passing  well  without  any 
regular  body  armor;  while  with  the  best  outfit  of  the  latter 
you  are  highly  vulnerable  without  your  shield.  To  know 
how  to  swing  your  shield  so  as  to  catch  every  possible 
blow,  to  know  how  to  push  and  lunge  with  it  against  an 
enemy,  to  know  how  to  knock  a  man  down  with  it,  if  needs 
be,  that  is  a  good  part  of  the  soldier's  education.  The  shield 
is  sometimes  round,  but  more  often  oval.  It  is  about  four 
feet  by  the  longest  diameter.  It  is  made  of  several  layers 
of  heavy  bull's  hide,  firmly  corded  and  riveted  together, 
and  has  a  good  metal  rim  and  metal  boss  in  the  center.  On 
the  inside  are  two  handles  so  that  it  can  be  conveniently 
wielded  on  the  left  arm.1  These  shields  are  brilliantly 
painted,  and  although  the  Greeks  have  no  heraldic  devices, 
there  are  all  manner  of  badges  and  distinguishing  marks  in 
vogue.  Thus  all  Theban  shields  are  blazoned  with  a  club ; 
Sicyonian  shields  are  marked  with  the  initial  "  Sigma  "  (2), 
and  we  note  that  the  Athenian  shields  are  all  marked  Alpha 
(A)-2 

90.  The  Weapons  of  a  Hoplite.  —  The  hoplites  have  donned 
their  armor.  Now  they  assume  their  offensive  weapons. 
Every  man  has  a  lance  and  a  sword.  The  lance  is  a  stout 
weapon  with  a  solid  wooden  butt,  about  six  feet  long  in  all. 
It  is  really  too  heavy  to  use  as  a  javelin.  It  is  most  effective 
as  a  pike  thrust  fairly  into  a  foeman's  face,  or  past  his 
shield  into  a  weak  spot  in  his  cuirass.  The  sword  is  usually 
kept  as  a  reserve  weapon  in  case  the  lance  gets  broken.  It 
is  not  over  25  inches  in  length,  making  rather  a  huge  double- 
edged  vicious  knife  than  a  saber;  but  it  is  terrible  for  cut 

1  Earlier  Greek  shields  seem  to  have  been  very  large  and  correspond- 
ingly heavy.    These  had  only  a  single  handle ;  and  to  aid  in  shifting  them 
they  were  swung  on  straps  passed  over  the  left  shoulder. 

2  This  last  is  a  matter  of  safe  inference  rather  than  of  positive  infor- 
mation. 


108  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

and  thrust  work  at  very  close  quarters.  Simple  as  these 
weapons  are,  they  are  fearful  instruments  of  slaughter  in 
well-trained  hands,  and  the  average  Greek  has  spent  a  con- 
siderable part  of  his  life  in  being  taught  how  to  use  them. 

91.  Infantry  Maneuvers.  —  The  final  trumpets  have  blown, 
and  the  troops  fall  into  their  places.  Each  tribal  taxis  lines 
up  its  lochoi.  The  Greeks  have  no  flags  nor  standards. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  shouting  by  the  subaltern  officers, 
and  running  up  and  down  the  ranks.  Presently  everything 
is  in  formal  array.  The  hoplites  stand  in  close  order,  each 
man  about  two  feet  from  the  next,1  leaving  no  gaps  between 
each  division  from  end  to  end  of  the  lines.  The  men  are  set  in 
eight  long  ranks.  This  is  the  normal  phalanx 2  order.  Only 
those  in  front  can  actually  lunge  and  strike  at  the  enemy. 
The  men  in  the  rear  will  add  to  the  battering  force  of  the 
charge,  and,  crowding  in  closely,  wedge  themselves  promptly 
to  the  front,  when  any  of  the  first  rank  goes  down. 

It  is  an  imposing  sight  when  the  strategos  in  charge  of 
the  maneuvers,  a  stately  man  in  a  red  chlamys,  gives  the 
final  word  "  March !  " 

Loud  pipes  begin  screaming.  The  long  lines  of  red,  blue, 
and  orange  plumes  nod  fiercely  together.  The  sun  strikes 
fire  out  of  thousands  of  brandished  lance  tips.  The  phalanx 
goes  swinging  away  over  the  dusty  parade  ground,  the  sub- 
alterns up  and  down  the  files  muttering  angrily  to  each 
inapt  recruit  to  "  Keep  your  distance : "  or  "  Don't  advance 
your  shield."  The  commandant  duly  orders  the  "  Half 
turn : "  "  Left "  or  "  Right  turn : "  "  Formation  by  squares," 
and  finally  the  critical  "  Change  front  to  rear."  If  this  last 

1  The  object  would  be  to  give  each  man  just  enough  distance  to  let  him 
make  fair  use  of  his  lance,  and  yet  have  his  shield  overlap  that  of  his 
neighbor. 

2  The  "  phalanx  "  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  a  Macedonian  innovation, 
but  Philip  and  Alexander  simply  improved  upon  an  old  Greek  military 
formation. 


The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens  109 

maneuver  is  successfully  accomplished,  the  strategos  will 
compliment  the  drill  sergeants ;  for  it  is  notoriously  difficult 
to  turn  a  ponderous  phalanx  around  and  yet  make  it  keep 
good  order.  The  drilling  goes  on  until  the  welcome  order 
comes,  u Ground  arms!"  and  every  perspiring  soldier  lets 
his  heavy  shield  slip  from  his  arm  upon  the  ground. 

92.  The  Preliminaries  of  a  Greek  Battle. — Later  in  the 
day,  if  these  are  happy  times  of  peace,  the  whole  phalanx, 
so  bristling  and  formidable,  will  have  resolved  itself  into 
its  harmless  units  of  honest  citizens  all  streaming  home 
for  dinner. 

Our  curiosity  of  course  asks  how  does  this  army  act  upon 
the  campaign ;  what,  in  other  words,  is  a  typical  Greek 
battle  ?  This  is  not  hard  to  describe.  Greek  battles,  until 
lately,  have  been  fought  according  to  set  formulae  in  which 
there  is  little  room  for  original  generalship,  though  much 
for  ordinary  circumspection  and  personal  valor.  A  battle 
consists  in  the  charging  together  of  two  phalanxes  of  hop- 
lites  of  about  equal  numbers.  If  one  army  greatly  over- 
matches the  other,  the  weaker  side  will  probably  retire 
without  risking  a  contest.  With  a  common  purpose,  there- 
fore, the  respective  generals  will  select  a  broad  stretch  of 
level  ground  for  the  struggle,  since  stony,  hilly,  or  uneven 
ground  will  never  do  for  the  maneuvering  of  hoplites.  The 
two  armies,  after  having  duly  come  in  sight  of  one  another, 
and  exchanged  defiances  by  derisive  shouts,  catcalls,  and 
trumpetings,  will  probably  each  pitch  its  camp  (protected 
by  simple  fortifications)  and  perhaps  wait  over  night,  that 
the  men  may  be  well  rested  and  have  a  good  dinner  and 
breakfast.  The  soldiers  will  be  duly  heartened  up  by  being 
told  of  any  lucky  omens  of  late,  —  how  three  black  crows 
were  seen  on  the  right,  and  a  flash  of  lightning  on  the  left ; 
and  the  seers  and  diviners  with  the  army  will,  at  the 
general's  orders,  repeat  any  hopeful  oracles  they  can  re- 


110  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

member  or  fabricate,  e.g.  predicting  ruin  for  Thebes,  or 
victory  for  Athens.  In  the  morning  the  soldiers  have 
breakfast,  then  the  lines  are  carefully  arrayed  a  little  be- 
yond bowshot  from  the  enemy,  who  are  preparing  them- 
selves in  similar  fashion.  Every  man  has  his  arms  in  order, 
his  spear  point  and  sword  just  from  the  whetstone,  and 
every  buckle  made  fast.  The  general  (probably  in  sight  of 
all  the  men)  will  cause  the  seers  to  kill  a  chicken,  and 
examine  its  entrails.  "  The  omens  are  good ;  the  color  is 
favorable ;  the  gods  are  with  us ! " 1  he  announces :  and 
then,  since  he  is  a  Greek  among  Greeks,  he  delivers  in  loud 
voice  an  harangue  to  as  many  as  can  hear  him,  setting  forth 
the  patriotic  issues  at  stake  in  the  battle,  the  call  of  the 
fatherland  to  its  sons,  the  glory  of  brave  valor,  the  shame 
of  cowardice,  probably  ending  with  some  practical  direc- 
tions about  "  Never  edging  to  the  right ! "  and  exhorting 
his  men  to  raise  as  loud  a  war-cry  as  possible,  both  to 
encourage  themselves  and  to  demoralize  the  enemy. 

93.  Joining  the  Battle.  —  The  troops  answer  with  a  cheer, 
then  join  in  full  chorus  in  the  "  Pcean  —  "  a  fierce  rousing 
charging-song  that  makes  every  faint-heart's  blood  leap 
faster.  Another  paean  bellowed  from  the  hostile  ranks  in- 
dicates that  similar  preliminaries  have  been  disposed  of 
there.  The  moment  the  fierce  chorus  ends,  the  general  (who 
probably  is  at  the  post  of  danger  and  honor  —  the  right 
wing)  nods  to  his  corps  of  pipers.  The  shrill  flutes  cut 
the  air.  The  whole  phalanx  starts  forward  like  one  man, 
and  the  enemy  seem  springing  to  meet  it.  The  tossing 
color,  the  flashing  arms  and  armor,  make  it  a  sight  for  men 
and  gods.  If  the  enemy  has  a  powerful  archery  force,  as 
had  the  Persians  at  Marathon,  then  the  phalanx  is  allowed 
to  advance  on  the  run,  —  for  at  all  costs  one  must  get 

1  It  may  be  suspected  that  it  was  very  seldom  the  omens  were  allowed 
to  be  unfavorable  when  the  general  was  really  resolved  on  battle. 


The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens  111 

through  the  terrible  zone  of  the  arrow  fire  and  come  to 
grips ;  but  if  their  bowmen  are  weak,  the  hoplites  will  be 
restrained,  —  it  is  better  not  to  risk  getting  the  phalanx 
disorganized.  Running  or  marching  the  troops  will  emit  a 
terrible  roaring :  either  the  slow  deep  " A !  la !  la!  la ! " 
or  something  quicker,  "  Eleleu  I "  "  Eleleu  I "  and  the  flutes 
will  blow  all  the  while  to  give  the  time  for  the  march- 
ing. 

Closer  at  hand  the  two  armies  will  fairly  spring  into 
unfriendly  embrace.  The  generals  have  each  measured 
his  enemy's  line  and  extended  his  own  to  match  it.1  With 
files  of  about  equal  depth,  and  well-trained  men  on  both 
sides,  the  first  stage  of  this  death  grapple  is  likely  to  be  a 
most  fearful  yet  indecisive  pushing :  the  men  of  the  front 
ranks  pressing  against  each  other,  shield  to  shield,  glaring 
out  of  their  helmets  like  wild  beasts  against  the  foernen 
three  feet  away,  and  lunging  with  their  lances  at  any  open- 
ing between  the  hostile  shields  or  above  them.  The  com- 
rades behind  wedge  in  the  front  ranks  closer  and  closer. 
Men  are  crushed  to  death,  probably  without  a  wound,  just 
by  this  hellish  impact.  The  shouts  and  yells  emitted  are 
deafening.  There  is  an  unearthly  clashing  of  steel  weapons 
on  bronze  armor.  Every  now  and  then  a  shrill,  sharp  cry 
tells  where  a  soldier  has  been  stabbed,  and  has  gone  down 
in  the  press,  probably  to  be  trampled  to  death  instantly. 
In  this  way  the  two  writhing,  thrusting  phalanxes  continue 
to  push  on  one  another  at  sheer  deadlock,  until  a  cool  ob- 
server might  well  wonder  whether  the  battle  would  not  end 
simply  with  mutual  extermination. 

1  Any  sudden  attempt  to  extend  your  line  beyond  the  foe's,  so  as  to  out- 
flank him,  would  probably  have  produced  so  much  confusion  in  your  own 
phalanx  as  to  promise  certain  disaster.  Of  course  for  an  inferior  force  to 
accept  battle  by  thinning  its  line,  to  be  able  by  extending  to  meet  the  long 
lines  of  the  enemy,  would  involve  the  greatest  risk  of  being  broken  through 
at  the  center.  The  best  remedy  for  inferior  numbers  was  manifestly  to 
decline  a  decisive  battle. 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


94.  The  Climax  and  End  of  the  Battle.  —  But  look  away 
now  from  the  center,  towards  the  two  wings.  What  the 
generals  of  both  contending  armies  have  feared  and  warned 
against  has  come  to  pass.  Every  hoplite  is  admirably 
covered  by  his  great  shield  on  his  left  side  ;  but  his  right 
is  unprotected.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  resist  the  im- 
pulse to  take  a  step  toward  the  right  to  get  under  the 
cover  of  a  comrade's  shield.  And  he  in  turn  has  been 
edging  to  the  right  likewise.  The  whole  army  has  in  fact 
done  so,  and  likewise  the  whole  phalanx  of  the  enemy. 
So  after  a  quarter  of  an  hour  of  brisk  fighting,  the  two 
hosts,  which  began  by  joining  with  lines  exactly  facing 
each  other,  have  each  edged  along  so  much  that  each  over- 
laps the  other  on  the  right  wing,  thus  : 


What  will  happen  now  is  easy  to  predict  with  assurance 
up  to  a  certain  point.  The  overlapping  right  wings  will 
each  promptly  turn  the  left  flank  of  their  enemies,  and  fall- 
ing upon  the  foe  front  and  rear  catch  them  almost  helpless. 
The  hoplite  is  an  admirable  soldier  when  standing  shoulder 
to  shoulder  with  his  comrades  facing  his  foe;  but  once 
beset  in  the  rear  he  is  so  wedged  in  by  the  press  that  it  is 
next  to  impossible  for  him  to  turn  and  fight  effectively. 
Either  he  will  be  massacred  as  he  stands  or  the  panic  will 
spread  betimes,  and  simultaneously  both  left  wings  will 
break  formation  and  hurry  off  the  field  in  little  better  than 
flight. 

Now  will  come  the  real  test  of  discipline  and  deliberate 
valor.  Both  centers  are  holding  stoutly.  Everything  rests 
on  the  respective  victorious  right  wings.  Either  they  will 
foolishly  forget  that  there  is  still  fighting  elsewhere  on  the 
field,  and  with  ill-timed  huzzaing  pursue  the  men  they  have 
just  routed,  make  for  their  camp  to  plunder  it.  or  worse 


The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens          113 

still,  disperse  to  spoil  the  slain ;  or,  if  they  can  heed  their 
general's  entreaties,  keep  their  ranks,  and  wheeling  around 
come  charging  down  on  the  rear  of  the  enemy's  center.  If 
one  right  wing  does  this,  while  the  hostile  right  wing  has 
rushed  off  in  heedless  pursuit,  the  battle  is  infallibly  won 
by  the  men  who  have  kept  their  heads ;  but  if  both  right 
wings  turn  back,  then  the  real  death  grapple  conies  when 
these  two  sets  of  victors  in  the  first  phase  of  the  contest 
clash  together  in  a  decisive  grapple. 

By  this  time  the  original  phalanx  formations,  so  orderly, 
and  beautiful,  have  become  utterly  shattered.  The  field  is 
covered  by  little  squares  or  knots  of  striking,  cursing,  rag- 
ing men  —  clashing  furiously  together.  If  there  are  any 
effective  reserves,  now  is  the  time  to  fling  them  into  the 
scale.  The  hitherto  timorous  light  troops  and  armor  bearers 
rush  up  to  do  what  they  can.  Individual  bravery  and  valor 
count  now  to  the  uttermost.  Little  by  little  the  contest 
turns  against  one  side  or  the  other.  The  crucial  moment 
comes.  The  losing  party  begins  to  fear  itself  about  to  be 
surrounded.  Vain  are  the  last  exhortations  of  the  officers 
to  rally  them.  "Everyman  for  himself!"  rings  theory; 
and  with  one  mad  impulse  the  defeated  hoplites  rush 
off  the  field  in  rout.  Since  they  have  been  at  close  grip 
with  their  enemies,  and  now  must  turn  their  ill-protected 
backs  to  the  pursuing  spears,  the  massacre  of  the  defeated 
side  is  sometimes  great.  Yet  not  so  great  as  might  be 
imagined.  Once  fairly  beaten,  you  must  strip  off  helmet 
and  cuirass,  cast  away  shield  and  spear,  and  run  like  a  hare. 
You  have  lightened  yourself  now  decidedly.  But  your  foe 
must  keep  his  ponderous  arms,  otherwise  he  cannot  master 
you,  if  he  overtakes  you.  Therefore  the  vanquished  can 
soon  distance  the  victors  unless  the  latter  have  an  unusually 
efficient  cavalry  and  javelin  force.  However,  the  victors  are 
likely  to  enter  the  camp  of  the  vanquished,  and  to  cele- 
brate duly  that  night  dividing  the  plunder. 


114  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

95.  The  Burial  Truce  and  the  Trophy  after  the  Battle.  —  A 
few  hours  after  the  battle,  while  the  victors  are  getting 
breath   and   refreshing  themselves,    a  shamefaced    herald, 
bearing  his  sacred  wand  of  office,  presents  himself.     He  is 
from  the  defeated  army,  and  comes  to  ask  a  burial  truce. 
This  is  the  formal  confession  of  defeat  for  which  the  victors 
have  been  waiting.     It  would  be  gross  impiety  to  refuse  the 
request ;  and  perhaps  the  first  watch  of  the  night  is  spent 
by  detachments  of  both  sides  in  burying  or  burning  the 
dead. 

The  fates  of  prisoners  may  be  various.  They  may  be  sold 
as  slaves.  If  the  captors  are  pitiless  and  vindictive,  it  is 
not  contrary  to  the  laws  of  war  to  put  the  prisoners  to  death 
in  cold  blood;  but  by  the  fourth  century  B.C.  Greeks  are 
becoming  relatively  humane.  Most  prisoners  will  presently 
be  released  against  a  reasonable  ransom  paid  by  their  rela- 
tives. 

The  final  stage  of  the  battle  is  the  trophy:  the  visible 
sign  on  the  battlefield  that  here  such-and-such  a  side  was 
victorious.  The  limbs  are  lopped  off  a  tree,  and  some  armor 
captured  from  the  foe  is  hung  upon  it.  After  indecisive 
battles  sometimes  both  sides  set  up  trophies ;  in  that  case  a 
second  battle  is  likely  to  settle  the  question.  Then  when 
the  victors  have  recovered  from  their  own  happy  demoral- 
ization, they  march  into  the  enemy's  country ;  by  burning 
all  the  farmsteads,  driving  off  the  cattle,  filling  up  the  wells, 
girdling  the  olive  and  fruit  trees,  they  reduce  the  defeated 
side  (that  has  fled  to  its  fortified  town)  to  desperation.  If 
they  have  any  prisoners,  they  threaten  to  put  them  to  death. 
The  result,  of  course,  is  frequently  a  treaty  of  peace  in  favor 
of  the  victors. 

96.  The  Siege  of  Fortified  Towns.  —  If,  however,  one  party 
cannot  be  induced  to  risk  an  open  battle ;  or  if,  despite  a 
defeat,  it  allows  the  enemy  to  ravage  the  fields,  and  yet 


The  Armed  Forces  of  Athens          115 

persists  in  defending  the  walls  of  its  town, — the  war  is  likely 
to  be  tedious  and  indecisive.  It  is  notorious  that  Greeks 
dislike  hard  sieges.  The  soldiers  are  the  fellow  townsmen 
of  the  generals.  If  the  latter  order  an  assault  with  scaling 
ladders  and  it  is  repulsed  with  bloody  loss,  the  generals  risk 
a  prosecution  when  they  get  home  for  "  casting  away  the 
lives  of  their  fellow  citizens."  *  In  short,  fifty  men  behind  a 
stout  wall  and  "  able  to  throw  anything  "  are  in  a  position 
to  defy  an  army. 

The  one  really  sure  means  of  taking  a  town  is  to  build  a 
counter  wall  around  it  and  starve  it  out,  — a  slow  and  very 
expensive,  though  not  bloody  process.  Only  when  some- 
thing very  great  is  at  stake  will  a  Greek  city-state  attempt 
this.2  There  is  always  another  chance,  however.  Almost 
every  Greek  town  has  a  discontented  faction  within  its 
walls,  and  many  a  time  there  will  be  a  traitor  who  will 
betray  a  gate  to  the  enemy ;  and  then  the  siege  will  be  sud- 
denly ended  in  one  murderous  night. 

97.  The  Introduction  of  New  Tactics.  —  Greek  battles  are 
thus  very  simple  things  as  a  rule.  It  is  the  general  who, 
accepting  the  typical  conditions  as  he  finds  them,  and  avoid- 
ing any  gross  and  obvious  blunders,  can  put  his  men  in  a 
state  of  perfect  fitness,  physical  and  moral,  that  is  likely 
to  win  the  day.  Of  late  there  has  come  indeed  a  spirit  of 
innovation.  At  Leuctra  (371  B.C.)  Epaminondas  the  Theban 
defeated  the  Spartans  by  the  unheard-of  device  of  massing 
a  part  of  his  hoplites  fifty  deep  (instead  of  the  orthodox 
eight  or  twelve)  and  crushing  the  Spartan  right  wing  by 

1  In  siege  warfare  Oriental  kings  had  a  great  advantage  over  Greek 
commanders.    The  former  could  sacrifice  as  many  of  their  "slaves"  as 
they  pleased,  in  desperate  assaults.     The  latter  had  always  to  bear  in 
mind  their  accountability  at  home  for  any  desperate  and  costly  attack. 

2  As  in  the  siege  of  Potidaea  (432-429  B.C.),  when  if  Athens  had  failed 
to  take  the  place,  her  hold  upon  her  whole  empire  would  have  been  jeop- 
ardized. 


116  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

the  sheer  weight  of  his  charge,  before  the  rest  of  the  line 
came  into  action  at  all.  If  the  experiment  had  not  suc- 
ceeded, Epaminondas  would  probably  have  been  denounced 
by  his  own  countrymen  as  a  traitor,  and  by  the  enemy 
as  a  fool,  for  varying  from  the  time-honored  long,  "  even 
line  "  phalanx ;  and  the  average  general  will  still  prefer  to 
keep  to  the  old  methods  ;  then  if  anything  happens,  he  at 
least  will  not  be  blamed  for  any  undue  rashness.  Only  in 
Macedon,  King  Philip  II  (who  is  just  about  to  come  to  the 
throne)  will  not  hesitate  to  study  the  new  battle  tactics  of 
Epaminondas,  and  to  improve  upon  them. 

The  Athenians  will  tell  us  that  their  citizen  hoplites  are 
a  match  for  any  soldiers  in  Greece,  except  until  lately  the 
Spartans,  and  now  (since  Leuctra)  possibly  the  Thebans. 
But  Corinthians,  Argives,  Sicyonians,  they  can  confront 
most  readily.  They  will  also  add,  quite  properly,  that  the 
army  of  Athens  is  in  the  main  for  home  defense.  She 
does  not  claim  to  be  a  preeminently  military  state.  The 
glory  of  Athens  has  been  the  mastery  of  the  sea.  Our  next 
excursion  must  surely  be  to  the  Peiraeus. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  PEIR^US  AND  THE   SHIPPING. 

98.  The  "Long  Walls"  down  to  the  Harbor  Town.  — It  is 
some  five  miles  from  the  city  to  the  Peiraeus,  and  the  most 
direct  route  this  time  lies  down  the  long  avenue  laid  be- 
tween the  Long  Walls,  and  running  almost  directly  south- 
west.1 The  ground  is  quite  level.  If  we  could  catch 
glimpses  beyond  the  walls,  we  would  see  fields,  seared  brown 
perhaps  by  the  summer  sun,  and  here  and  there  a  bright- 
kerchiefed  woman  gleaning  among  the  wheat  stubble.  The 
two  walls  start  from  Athens  close  together  and  run  parallel 
for  some  distance,  then  they  gradually  diverge  so  as  to  em- 
brace within  their  open  angle  a  large  part  of  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  Peirseus.  This  open  space  is  built  up  with  all 
kinds  of  shops,  factories,  and  houses,  usually  of  the  less  aris- 
tocratic kind.  In  fact,  all  the  noxious  sights  and  odors  to 
be  found  in  Athens  seem  tenfold  multiplied  as  we  approach 
the  Peiraeus. 

The  straight  highroad  is  swarming  with  traffic:  clumsy 
wagons  are  bringing  down  marble  from  the  mountains;  other 
wains  are  headed  toward  Athens  with  lumber  and  bales  of 
foreign  wares.  Countless  donkeys  laden  with  panniers  are 

1  These  were  the  walls  whereof  a  considerable  section  was  thrown 
down  by  Lysander  after  the  surrender  of  Athens  [404  B.C.].  The  demoli- 
tion was  done  to  the  "  music  of  flute  girls,"  and  was  fondly  thought  by  the 
victors  to  mean  the  permanent  crippling  of  Athens,  and  therefore  "  the 
first  day  of  the  liberty  of  Greece."  In  393  B  c.,  by  one  of  the  ironies  of 
history,  Conon,  an  Athenian  admiral,  but  in  the  service  of  the  king  of 
Persia,  who  was  then  at  war  with  Sparta,  appeared  in  the  Peiraeus,  and 
with  Persian  men  and  money  rebuilt  the  walls  amid  the  rejoicings  of  the 
Athenians. 

117 


118  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

being  flogged  along.  A  great  deal  of  the  carrying  is  done 
by  half-naked  sweating  porters;  for,  after  all,  slave-flesh  is 
almost  as  cheap  as  beast-flesh.  So  by  degrees  the  two  walls 
open  away  from  us:  before  us  now  expands  the  humming 
port  town ;  we  catch  the  sniff  of  the  salt  brine,  and  see  the 
tangle  of  spars  of  the  multifarious  shipping.  Right  ahead, 
however,  dominating  the  whole  scene,  is  a  craggy  height, — 


THE  TOWN  OF  PEIRAEUS 

AND  THE 
HARBORS  OF  ATHENS 


the  hill  of  Munychia,  crowned  with  strong  fortifications,  and 
with  houses  rising  terrace  above  terrace  upon  its  slopes.  At 
the  very  summit  glitters  in  its  white  marble  and  color  work 
the  temple  of  Artemis  Munychia,  the  guardian  goddess  of 
the  port  town  and  its  citadel.1 

99.  Munychia  and  the  Havens  of  Athens.  —  Making  our 
way  up  a  steep  lane  upon  the  northwestern  slope,  we  pass 

1  This  fortress  of  Munychia,  rather  than  the  Acropolis  in  Athens,  was 
the  real  citadel  of  Attica.  It  dominated  the  all-important  harbors  on 
which  the  very  life  of  the  state  depended. 


The  Peiraeus  and  the  Shipping         119 

within  the  fortifications,  the  most  formidable  near  Athens. 
A  band  of  young  ephebi  of  the  garrison  eye  us  as  we  enter ; 
but  we  seem  neither  Spartans  nor  Thebans  and  are  not 
molested.  From  a  convenient  crag  near  the  temple,  the 
whole  scheme  of  the  harbors  of  Athens  is  spread  out  before 
us,  two  hundred  and  eighty  odd  feet  below.  Behind  us  is 
the  familiar  plain  of  Athens  with  the  city,  the  Acropolis, 
and  the  guardian  mountains.  Directly  west  lies  the  ex- 
panse of  roof  of  the  main  harbor  town,  and  then  beyond  is 
the  smooth  blue  expanse  of  the  "  Port  of  the  Peiraeus,"  the 
main  mercantile  harbor  of  Athens.  Running  straight  down 
from  Munychia,  southwest,  the  land  tapers  off  into  a  rocky 
promontory,  entirely  girt  with  strong  fortifications.  In  this 
stretch  of  land  are  two  deep  round  indentations.  Cups  of 
bright  water  they  seem,  communicating  with  the  outer  sea  only 
by  narrow  entrances  which  are  dominated  by  stout  castles. 
Zea  is  the  name  of  the  more  remote ;  the  "  haven "  of 
Munychia  is  that  which  seems  opening  almost  at  our  feet. 
These  both  are  full  of  the  naval  shipping,  whereof  more 
hereafter.  To  the  eastward,  and  stretching  down  the  coast, 
is  a  long  sandy  beach  whereon  the  blue  ripples  are  crumbling 
between  the  black  fishing  boats  drawn  up  upon  the  strand. 
This  is  Phaleron,  the  old  harbor  of  Athens  before  Themis- 
tocles  fortified  the  Peirceus  —  merely  an  open  roadstead  in 
fact,  but  still  very  handy  for  small  craft,  which  can  be 
hauled  up  promptly  to  escape  the  tempest. 

100.  The  Glorious  View  from  the  Hill  of  Munychia.  —  These 
are  the  chief  points  in  the  harbors ;  but  the  view  from  Mun- 
ychia is  most  extensive.  Almost  everything  in  sight  has 
its  legend  or  its  story  in  sober  history.  Ten  miles  away  to 
the  southward  rise  the  red  rocky  hills  of  JEgina,  Athens' 
old  island  enemy ;  and  the  tawny  headlands  of  the  Argolic 
coast  are  visible  yet  farther  across  the  horizon.  Again,  as 
we  follow  the  purplish  ridge  of  Mount  JEg&leos  as  it  runs 


120  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

down  the  Attic  coast  to  westward,  we  come  to  a  headland, 
then  to  a  belt  of  azure  water,  about  a  mile  wide,  then  the 
reddish  hills  of  an  irregular  island.  Every  idler  on  the  cit- 
adel can  tell  us  all  the  story.  On  that  headland  on  a  certain 
fateful  morning  sat  Xerxes,  lord  of  the  Persians,  with  his 
sword-hands  and  mighty  men  about  him  and  his  ships  before 
him,  to  look  down  on  the  naval  spectacle  and  see  how  his 
slaves  would  fight.  The  island  beyond  is  "  holy  Salamis," 
and  in  this  narrow  strip  of  water  has  been  the  battle  which 
saved  the  life  of  Hellas.  Every  position  in  the  contest  seems 
clearly  in  sight,  even  the  insignificant  islet  of  Psyttaleia, 
where  Aristeides  had  landed  his  men  after  the  battle,  and 
massacred  the  Persians  stationed  there  "  to  cut  off  the  Greeks 
who  tried  to  escape." 

The  water  is  indescribably  blue,  matching  the  azure  of  the 
sky.  Ships  of  all  kinds  under  sails  or  oars  are  moving  lightly 
over  the  havens  and  the  open  Saronic  bay.  It  is  a  match- 
less spectacle  —  albeit  very  peaceful.  We  now  descend  to 
the  Peiraeus  proper  and  examine  the  merchant  shipping 
and  wharves,  leaving  the  navy  yards  and  the  fighting 
triremes  till  later. 

101.  The  Town  of  Peiraeus.  —  The  Peiraeus  has  all  the 
life  of  the  Athenian  Agora  many  times  multiplied.  Every- 
where there  is  work  and  bustle.  Aristophanes  has  long  since 
described  the  impression  it  makes  on  strangers,1 — sailors 
clamoring  for  pay,  rations  being  served  out,  figureheads 
being  burnished,  men  trafficking  for  corn,  for  onions,  for 
leeks,  for  figs,  —  "  wreaths,  anchovies,  flute  girls,  blackened 
eyes,  the  hammering  of  oars  from  the  dock  yards,  the 
fitting  of  rowlocks,  boatswains'  pipes,  fifes,  and  whistling." 
There  is  such  confusion  one  can  hardly  analyze  one's 
surroundings.  However,  we  soon  discover  the  Peiraeus  has 
certain  advantages  over  Athens  itself.  The  streets  are 

i  Acharn.  54  ff. 


The  Peirgeus  and  the  Shipping         121 

much  wider  and  are  quite  straight,1  crossing  at  right  angles, 
unlike  the  crooked  alleys  of  old  Athens  which  seem  nothing 
but  built-up  cow  trails.  Down  at  the  water  front  of  the  main 
harbor  (the  "Peiraeus  "  harbor  to  distinguish  it  from  Zea 
and  Munychia)  we  find  about  one  third,  nearest  the  entrance 
passage  and  called  the  Cantharus,  reserved  for  the  use  of 
the  war  navy.  The  remainder  is  turned  over  to  the  mer- 
chantmen. This  section  is  the  famous  Emporium,  which  is 
such  a  repository  of  foreign  wares  that  Isocrates  boasts  that 


FISHERMEN. 

here  one  can  easily  buy  all  those  things  which  it  is  extremely 
hard  to  purchase  anywhere  else  in  Hellas.  Along  the  shore 
run  five  great  stoas  or  colonnades,  all  used  by  the  traders 
for  different  purposes;  —  among  them  are  the  Long  Stoa 
(Makra!  Stoa'),  the  Deigma  (see  p.  93)  used  as  a  sample 
house  by  the  wholesalers,  and  the  great  Corn  Exchange 
built  by  Pericles.  Close  down  near  the  wharves  stands  also 
a  handsome  and  frequented  temple,  that  of  Athena  Euploia 
(Athena,  Giver  of  good  Voyages),  to  whom  many  a  shipman 

1  Pericles  employed  the  famous  architect  Hippodamus  to  lay  out  the 
Peirseus.  It  seems  to  have  been  arranged  much  like  many  of  the  newer 
American  cities. 


122  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

offers  prayer  ere  hoisting  sail,  and  many  another  comes  to 
pay  grateful  vows  after  surviving  a  storm.1  Time  fails  us 
for  mentioning  all  the  considerable  temples  farther  back 
in  the  town.  The  Peirseus  in  short  is  a  semi-independent 
community ;  with  its  shrines,  its  agoras,  its  theaters,  its  court 
rooms,  and  other  public  buildings.  The  population  contains 
a  very  high  percentage  of  metics,  and  downright  Bar- 
barians, —  indeed,  long-bearded  Babylonians,  clean  bronze 
Egyptians,  grinning  Ethiopians,  never  awaken  the  least  com- 
ment, they  are  so  familiar. 

102.  The  Merchant  Shipping. — We  can  now  cast  more 
particular  eyes  upon  the  shipping.  Every  possible  type  is 
represented.  The  fishing  craft  just  now  pulling  in  with  loads 
of  shining  tunnies  caught  near  ^Egina  are  of  course  merely 
broad  open  boats,  with  only  a  single  dirty  orange  sail  swing- 
ing in  the  lagging  breeze.  Such  vessels  indeed  depend 
most  of  the  time  upon  their  long  oars.  Also  just  now  there 
goes  across  the  glassy  surface  of  the  harbor  a  slim  graceful 
rowing  craft,  pulling  eight  swiftly  plying  oars  to  a  side.  She 
is  a  Lembus :  probably  the  private  cutter  of  the  commandant  of 
the  port.  Generally  speaking,  however,  we  soon  find  that  all 
the  larger  Greek  ships  are  divided  into  two  categories,  the 
"long  ships"  and  the  "round  ships."  The  former  depend 
mainly  on  oars  and  are  for  war ;  the  latter  trust  chiefly  to 
sail  power  and  are  for  cargo.  The  craft  in  the  merchant 
haven  are  of  course  nearly  all  of  this  last  description. 

Greeks  are  clever  sailors.  They  never  feel  really  happy 
at  a  great  distance  from  the  sea  which  so  penetrates  their 
little  country;  nevertheless,  they  have  not  made  all  the 
progress  in  navigation  which,  considering  the  natural  inge- 
nuity of  the  race,  might  well  be  expected.  The  prime  diffi- 
culty is  that  Greek  ships  very  seldom  have  comfortable  cabins. 

1  There  seems  to  have  been  still  another  precinct,  sacred  to  "Zeus  and 
Athena  the  Preservers,"  where  it  was  very  proper  to  offer  thanksgivings 
after  a  safe  voyage. 


The  Peirseus  and  the  Shipping         123 

The  men  expect  to  sleep  on  shore  every  night  possible.  Only 
in  a  great  emergency,  or  when  crossing  an  exceptionally  wide 
gnlf  or  channel,1  can  a  captain  expect  the  average  crew  to 
forego  the  privilege  of  a  warm  supper  and  bivouac  upon  the 
strand.  This  means  (since  safe  anchorages  are  by  no  means 
everywhere)  the  ships  must  be  so  shallow  and  light  they  can 
often  be  hauled  up  upon  the  beach.  Even  with  a  pretty  large 
crew,  therefore,  the  limit  to  a  manageable  ship  is  soon  reached ; 
and  during  the  whole  of  the  winter  season  all  long-distance 
voyaging  has  to  be  suspended  ;  while,  even  in  summer,  nine 
sailors  out  of  ten  hug  close  to  the  land,  despite  the  fact  that 
often  the  distance  of  a  voyage  is  thereby  doubled. 

However,  the  ships  at  Peirseus,  if  not  large  in  size,  are 
numerous  enough.  Some  are  simply  big  open  boats  with 
details  elaborated.  They  have  a  small  forecastle  and  poop 
built  over,  but  the  cargo  in  the  hold  is  exposed  to  all  wind 
and  weather.  The  propulsion  comes  from  a  single  unwieldy 
square  sail  swinging  on  a  long  yard  the  whole  length  of  the 
vessel.  Other  ships  are  more  completely  decked,  and  depend 
on  two  square  sails  in  the  place  of  one.  A  few,  however,  are 
real  "deep  sea"  vessels  —  completely  decked,  with  two  or 
even  three  masts  ;  with  cabins  of  tolerable  size,  and  forward 
and  aft  curious  projections,  like  turrets,  —  the  use  whereof  is 
by  no  means  obvious,  but  we  soon  gather  that  pirates  still 
abound  on  the  distant  seas,  and  that  these  turrets  are  useful 
when  it  comes  to  repelling  boarders.  The  very  biggest  of 
these  craft  run  up  to  250  gross  tons  (later  day  register),2  al- 
though with  these  ponderous  defense- works  they  seem  consid- 
erably larger.  The  average  of  the  ships,  however,  will  reckon 
only  30  to  40  tons  or  even  smaller.  It  is  really  a  mistake,  any 
garrulous  sailor  will  tell  us,  to  build  merchant  ships  much 

1  For  example,  the  trip  from  Crete  to  Cyrene — which  would  be  demanded 
first,  before  coasting  along  to  Egypt. 

2  The  Greeks  reckoned  their  ships  by  their  capacity  in  talents  ( =  about 
60  IDS.),  e.g.  a  ship  of  500  talents,  of  2000,  or  (among  the  largest)  10,000. 


124  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

bigger.  It  is  impossible  to  make  sailing  vessels  of  the  Greek 
model  and  rig  sail  very  close  to  the  wind;  and  in  every 
contrary  breeze  or  calm,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the  huge  oars 
piled  up  along  the  gunwales.  Obviously  it  is  weary  work 
propelling  a  large  ship  with  oars  unless  you  have  a  huge  and 
expensive  crew,  —  far  better  then  to  keep  to  the  smaller 


103.  The  Three  War  Harbors  and  the  Ship  Houses.  —  Many 
other  points  about  these  "  round  ships  "  interest  us ;  but  such 
matters  they  share  with  the  men-of-war,  and  our  inspection 
has  now  brought  us  to  the  navy  yard.  There  are  strictly 
three  separate  navy  yards,  one  at  each  of  the  harbors  of 
Munychia,  Zea,  and  Cantharus,  for  the  naval  strength  of 
Athens  is  so  great  that  it  is  impossible  to  concentrate  the 
entire  fleet  at  one  harbor.  Each  of  these  establishments  is 
protected  by  having  two  strong  battlements  or  breakwaters 
built  out,  nearly  closing  the  respective  harbor  entrances.  At 
the  end  of  each  breakwater  is  a  tower  with  parapets  for 
archers,  and  capstans  for  dragging  a  huge  chain  across  the 
harbor  mouth,  thus  effectively  sealing  the  entrance  to  any 
foe.1  The  Zea  haven  has  really  the  greatest  warship  capac- 
ity, but  the  Cantharus  is  a  good  type  for  the  three.2  As 
we  approach  it  from  the  merchant  haven,  we  see  the  shelv- 
ing shore  closely  lined  with  curious  structures  which  do 
not  easily  explain  themselves.  There  are  a  vast  number  of 
dirty,  shelving  roofs,  slightly  tilted  upward  towards  the  land 
side,  and  set  at  right  angles  to  the  water's  edge.  They  are 
each  about  150  feet  long,  some  25  feet  wide,  about  20  feet 
high,  and  are  set  up  side  by  side  with  no  passage  between. 


1  Ancient  harbors  were  much  harder  to  defend  than  modern  ones, 
because  there  was  no  long-range  artillery  to  prevent  an  enemy  from 
thrusting  into  an  open  haven  among  defenseless  shipping. 

2  Zea  had  accommodation  for  196  triremes,  Munychia,  82,  and  the  Can- 
tharus, 94. 


The  Peirseus  and  the  Shipping         125 

On  close  inspection  we  discover  these  are  ship  houses. 
Under  each  of  the  roofs  is  accommodated  the  long  slim  hull 
of  a  trireme,  kept  safe  from  sea  and  weather  until  the  time 
of  need,  when  a  few  minutes'  work  at  a  tackle  and  capstan 
will  send  it  down  into  harbor,  ready  to  tow  beside  a 
wharf  for  outfitting. 

104.  The  Great  Naval  Arsenal.  —  The  ship  houses  are  not 
the  only  large  structures  at  the  navy  yard.     Here  is  also 
the  great  naval  arsenal,  a  huge  roofed  structure  open  at  the 
sides   and   entirely    exposed   to   public   inspection.     Here 
between  the  lines  of  supporting  columns  can  be  seen  stacked 
up  the  staple  requisites  for  the  ships, — great  ropes,  sail  boxes, 
anchors,  oars,  etc.     Everybody  in  Athens   is  welcome  to 
enter  and  assure  himself  that  the  fleet  can  be  outfitted  at  a 
minute's  notice1;   and  at  ail   times   crews   of  half-naked, 
weather-beaten  sailors  are  rushing  hither  and  yon,  carrying 
or  removing  supplies  to  and  from  the  wharves  where  their 
ships  are  lying. 

105.  An  Athenian  Trier  arch.  — Among  this  unaristocratic 
crowd  we  observe  a  dignified  old  gentleman  with  an  immac- 
ulate himation   and   a    long   polished   cane.      Obsequious 
clerks  and  sailing  masters  are  hanging  about  him  for  his 
orders;  it  is  easy  to  see  that  he  is  a  trierarch — one  of  the 
wealthiest  citizens  on  whom  it  fell,  in  turn,  at  set  intervals,  to 
provide  the  less  essential  parts  of  a  trireme's  outfit,  and  at 
least  part  of  the  pay  for  the  crew  for  one  year,  and  to  be 
generally  responsible  for  the  efficiency  and  upkeep  of  the 
vessel.2    This  is  a  year  of  peace,  and  the  patriotic  pressure 

1  This  arsenal  was  replaced  a  little  later  than  the  hypothetical  time  of 
this  narrative  by  one  designed  by  the  famous  architect,  Philo.    It  was 
extremely  elegant  as  well  as  commodious,  with  handsome  columns,  tiled 
roofs,  etc.    In  360  B.C.,  however,  the  arsenal  seems  to  have  been  a  strictly 
utilitarian  structure. 

2  Just  how  much  of  the  rigging  and  what  fraction  of  the  pay  of  the  crew 
the  government   provided  is    by   no    means  clear  from  our   evidence. 


126  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

to  spend  as  much  on  your  warship  as  possible  is  not  so  great 
as  sometimes;  still  Eustathius,  the  magnate  in  question, 
knows  that  he  will  be  bitterly  criticised  (nay,  perhaps  prose- 
cuted in  the  courts)  if  he  does  not  do  "  the  generous  thing." 
He  is  therefore  ordering  an  extra  handsome  figurehead; 
promising  a  bonus  to  the  rowing  master  if  he  can  get  his 
hands  to  row  in  better  rhythm  than  the  ordinary  crew ;  and 
directing  that  wine  of  superior  quality  be  sent  aboard  for 
the  men.1  It  will  be  an  anxious  year  in  any  case  for  Eusta- 
thius. He  has  ill  wishers  who  will  watch  carefully  to  see  if 
the  vessel  fails  to  make  a  creditable  record  for  herself  during 
the  year,  and  whether  she  is  returned  to  the  ship  house  or 
to  the  next  trierarch  in  a  state  of  good  repair.  If  the  craft 
does  not  then  appear  seaworthy,  her  last  outfitter  may  be 
called  upon  to  rebuild  her  completely,  a  matter  which  will 
eat  up  something  like  a  talent.  Public  service  therefore  does 
not  provide  beds  of  roses  for  the  rich  men  of  Athens. 

Eustathius  goes  away  towards  one  of  the  wharves,  where 
his  trireme,  the  Invincible,  is  moored  with  her  crew  aboard 
her.  Let  us  examine  a  typical  Athenian  warship. 

106.  The  Evolution  of  the  Trireme. — The  genesis  of  the 
trireme  was  the  old  penteconter  ("fifty -oar  ship")  which,  in 
its  prime  features,  was  simply  a  long,  narrow,  open  hull, 
with  slightly  raised  prow  and  stern  cabins,  pulling  twenty- 
five  oars  to  a  side.  There  are  a  few  penteconters  still  in 
existence,  though  the  great  naval  powers  have  long  since 
scorned  them.  It  was  a  good  while  before  the  battle  of 
Salamis  that  the  Greek  sea  warriors  began  to  feel  the  need 

It  is  certain  that  a  public-spirited  and  lavish  trierarch  could  almost  ruin 
himself  (unless  very  wealthy)  during  the  year  he  was  responsible  for  the 


1  According  to  various  passages  in  Demosthenes,  the  cost  of  a  trierarchy 
for  a  year  varied  between  40  minae  (say  $540)  and  a  talent  (about 
$1000),  very  large  sums  for  Athenians.  The  question  of  the  amount 
of  time  spent  in  active  service  in  foreign  waters  would  of  course  do  much 
to  determine  the  outlay. 


The  Peirseus  and  the  Shipping         127 

of  larger  warships.  It  was  impossible  to  continue  the  sim- 
ple scheme  of  the  penteconter.  To  get  more  oars  all  on  one 
tier  you  must  make  a  longer  boat,  but  you  could  not  in- 
crease the  beam,  for,  if  you  did,  the  whole  craft  would  get  so 
heavy  that  it  would  not  row  rapidly ;  and  the  penteconter 
was  already  so  long  in  relation  to  its  beam  as  to  be  some- 
what unsafe.  A  device  was  needed  to  get  more  oars  into 
the  water  without  increasing  the  length  over  much.  The 


AN  ATHENIAN  TRIREME. 

The  scheme  for  the  sails  is  conjectural,  and  no  attempt  is  made  to 
show  the  exact  number  of  oars. 

result  was  the  bireme  (two-banker)  which  was  speedily 
replaced  by  the  still  more  efficient  trireme  (three-banker), 
the  standard  battleship  of  all  the  Greek  navies.1 

107.  The  Hull  of  a  Trireme.  — The  Invincible  has  a  hull  of 
fir  strengthened  by  a  solid  oak  keel,  very  essential  if  she  is 
to  be  hauled  up  frequently.  Her  hull  is  painted  black,  but 
there  is  abundance  of  scarlet,  bright  blue,  and  gilding  upon 
her  prow,  stern,  and  upper  works.  The  slim  hull  itself  is 
about  140  feet  long,  14  feet  wide,  and  rides  the  harbor  so 

1By  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  vessels  with  four  and  five  banks 
of  oars  (quadriremes  and  quinqueremes)  had  become  the  regular  fighting 
ships,  but  they  differed  probably  only  in  size,  not  in  principle,  from  the 
trireme. 


128  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

lightly  as  to  show  that  it  draws  very  little  water;  for  the 
warship,  even  more  perhaps  than  the  merchantman,  is  built 
on  the  theory  that  her  crew  must  drag  her  up  upon  the 
beach  almost  every  night. 

While  we  study  the  vessel  we  are  soon  told  that,  although 
triremes  have  been  in  general  use  since,  say,  500  B.C.,  never- 
theless the  ships  that  fought  at  Salamis  were  decidedly 
simpler  affairs  than  those  of  three  generations  later.  In 
those  old  "aphract"  vessels  the  upper  tier  of  rowers  had  to 
sit  exposed  on  their  benches  with  no  real  protection  from 
the  enemy's  darts  ;  but  in  the  new  "  cataphract "  ships  like 
the  Invincible  there  is  a  stout  solid  bulwark  built  up  to 
shield  the  oarsmen  from  hostile  sight  and  missiles  alike. 
All  this  makes  the  ships  of  Demosthenes's  day  much  hand- 
somer, taller  affairs  than  their  predecessors  which  Themis- 
tocles  commanded;  nevertheless  the  old  and  the  new 
triremes  have  most  essentials  in  common.  The  day  is  far 
off  when  a  battleship  twenty  years  old  will  be  called 
"  hopelessly  obsolete  "  by  the  naval  critics.1 

The  upper  deck  of  the  trireme  is  about  eleven  feet  above 
the  harbor  waves,  but  the  lowest  oar  holes  are  raised  barely 
three  feet.  Into  the  intervening  space  the  whole  complicated 
rowing  apparatus  has  to  be  crammed  with  a  good  deal  of 
ingenuity.  Running  along  two  thirds  of  the  length  of  thfe 
hull  nearly  the  whole  interior  of  the  vessel  is  filled  with  a 
series  of  seats  and  foot  rests  rising  in  sets  of  three.  Each 
man  has  a  bench  and  a  kind  of  stool  beneath  him,  and  sits 
close  to  a  porthole.  The  feet  of  the  lowest  rower  are  near 
the  level  of  the  water  line;  swinging  two  feet  above  him 
and  only  a  little  behind  him  is  his  comrade  of  the  second 
tier;  higher  and  behind  in  turn  is  he  of  the  third.2  Run- 

1  There  is  some  reason  for  believing  that  an  Athenian  trireme  was  kept 
in  service  for  many  years,  with  only  incidental  repairs,  and  then  could 
still  be  counted  as  fit  to  take  her  place  in  the  line  of  battle. 

aThe  exact  system  by  which  these  oar  benches  were  arranged,  the  crew 
taught  to  swing  together  (despite  the  inequalities  in  the  length  of  their 


The  Peirseus  and  the  Shipping         129 

ning  down  the  center  of  the  ship  on  either  side  of  these 
complicated  benches  is  a  broad,  central  gangway,  just  under 
the  upper  deck.  Here  the  supernumeraries  will  take  refuge 
from  the  darts  in  battle,  and  here  the  regular  rowers  will 
have  to  do  most  of  their  eating,  resting,  and  sleeping  when 
they  are  not  actually  on  the  benches  or  on  shore. 

108.  The  Rowers'  Benches  of  a  Trireme.— With  her  full 
complement  of  rowers  the  benches  of  the  Invincible  fairly 
swarm  with  life.     There  are  62  rowers  to  the  upper  tier 
{thranites),  58  for  the  middle  tier  (zygites),  and  54  for  the 
lower  (thalamites),  each  man  with  his  own  individual  oar. 
The  thranites  with  the  longest  oars  (full  13  feet  6  inches) 
have  the  hardest  pull  and  the  largest  pay,  but  not  one  of 
the  174  oarsmen  holds  a  sinecure.     In  ordinary  cruising,  to 
be  sure,  the  trireme  will  make  use  of  her  sails,  to  help  out 
a  single  bank  of  oars  which  must  be  kept  going  almost  all 
the  time.     Even  then  it  is  weary  work  to  break  your  back 
for  a  couple  of  hours  taking  your  turn  on  the  benches.    But 
in  battle  the  trireme  almost  never  uses  sails.     She  becomes 
a  vast,  many-footed  monster,  flying  over  the  foam  ;  and  the 
pace  of  the  three  oar  banks,  swinging  together,  becomes  mad- 
dening.    Behind  their  bulwarks  the  rowers  can  see  little  of 
what  is  passing.     Everything  is  dependent  upon  their  row- 
ing together  in  absolute  rhythm  come  what  may,  and  giving 
instant  obedience  to  orders.     The  trireme  is  in  one  sense 
like  a  latter-day  steamer  in  her  methods  of  propulsion ;  but 
the  driving  force  is  174  straining,  panting  humans,  not  in- 
sensate water  vapor  and  steel. 

109 .  The  Cabins,  Rigging,  and  Ram  of  a  Trireme.  —  Forward 
and  aft  of  the  rowers'  benches  and  the  great  central  gangway 
are  the  fore  and  stern  cabins.     They  furnish  something  akin 
to  tolerable  accommodations  for  the  officers  and  a  favored 

oars),  and  several  other  like  problems  connected  with  the  trireme,  have 
received  no  satisfactory  solution  by  modern  investigators. 


130  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

fraction  of  the  crew.  Above  the  forecastle  rises  a  carved 
proudly  curving  prow,  and  just  abaft  it  are  high  bulwarks 
to  guard  the  javelin  men  when  at  close  quarters  with  the 
foe.  There  is  also  on  either  side  of  the  prow  a  huge  red 
or  orange  "eye"  painted  around  the  hawse  holes  for  the 
anchors.  Above  the  stern  cabin  is  the  narrow  deck  reserved 
for  the  pilot,  the  "  governor  "  of  the  ship,  who  will  control 
the  whole  trireme  with  a  touch  now  on  one,  now  on  the 
other,  of  the  huge  steering  paddles  which  swing  at  the  sides 
near  the  stern.  Within  the  stern  cabin  itself  is  the  little 
altar,  sacred  to  the  god  or  goddess  to  whom  the  vessel  is 
dedicated,  and  on  which  incense  will  be  burned  before  start- 
ing on  a  long  cruise  and  before  going  into  battle.  Two 
masts  rise  above  the  deck,  a  tall  mainmast  nearly  amidships, 
and  a  much  smaller  mast  well  forward.  On  each  of  these 
a  square  sail  (red,  orange,  blue,  or  even,  with  gala  ships, 
purple)  will  be  swung  from  a  long  yard,  while  the  vessel  is 
cruising ;  but  it  is  useless  to  set  sails  in  battle.  One  could 
never  turn  the  ship  quickly  enough  to  complete  the  maneuvers. 
The  sails  and  yards  will  ordinarily  be  sent  ashore  as  the  first 
measure  when  the  admiral  signals  "  clear  ship  for  action." 
We  have  now  examined  all  of  the  Invincible  except  her 
main  weapon,  —  her  beak;  for  the  trireme  is  really  her- 
self one  tremendous  missile  to  be  flung  by  the  well-trained 
rowers  at  the  ill-starred  foe.  Projecting  well  in  front 
of  the  prow  and  close  to  the  water  line  are  three  heavy 
metal  spurs  serrated  one  above  the  other,  somewhat  thus1: 


1  Probably  at  Salamis  and  in  the  earlier  Athenian  navy  the  ram  had 
been  composed  of  a  single  long,  tapering  beak. 


The  Peiraeus  and  the  Shipping         131 

Let  this  fang  once  crash  against  a  foeman's  broadside,  and 
his  timbers  are  crushed  in  like  eggshells. 

110.  The  Officers  and  Crew  of  a  Trireme.  —  So  much  for 
the  Invincible  herself,  but  obviously  she  is  a  helpless  thing 
without  an  efficient  crew.  The  life  of  an  oarsman  is  far 
from  luxurious,  but  the  pay  seems  to  be  enough  to  induce  a 
goodly  number  of  thetes  (the  poorest  class  of  the  Athenian 
citizens)  to  accept  service,  and  the  rest  can  be  supplied  by 
hired  metics  or  any  kind  of  foreign  nondescript  who  can  be 
brought  into  discipline.  The  rowers  are  of  course  the  real 
heart  and  soul  of  the  trireme ;  but  they  are  useless  without 
proper  training.  Indeed  it  was  the  superior  discipline  of 
the  Athenian  crews  which  in  the  days  of  Themistocles  and 
Pericles  gave  Athens  the  supremacy  of  the  seas.  The  nomi- 
nal, and  sometimes  actual,  commander  of  the  trireme  is  her 
trierarch;  but  obviously  a  cultivated  old  gentleman  like 
Eustathius  is  no  man  to  manage  the  ship  in  a  sea  fight.  He 
will  name  some  deputy,  perhaps  a  stout  young  friend  or  a 
son,  for  the  real  naval  work.  Even  he  may  not  possess  great 
experience.  The  real  commander  of  the  Invincible  is  the 
"governor"  (kybernates),  a  gnarled  old  seaman,  who  has 
spent  all  his  life  upon  the  water.  Nominally  his  main  duty 
is  to  act  as  pilot,  but  actually  he  is  in  charge  of  the  whole 
ship ;  and  in  battle  the  trierarch  (if  aboard)  will  be  very 
glad  to  obey  all  his  "  suggestions."  Next  to  the  "  governor  " 
there  is  the  proireus,  another  experienced  sailor  who  will 
have  especial  charge  of  the  forecastle  in  battle.  Next  in 
turn  are  two  "  oar-masters"  (toixarchoi),  who  are  each  respon- 
sible for  the  discipline  and  working  of  one  of  the  long  rowers' 
benches ;  and  following  in  grade,  though  highly  important, 
are  the  Meustes,  and  the  trieraules,  who,  by  voice  and  by 
flute  respectively,  will  give  the  time  and  if  needs  be  encour- 
agement to  the  rowers.  These  are  all  the  regular  officers,  but 
naturally  for  handling  the  sails  and  anchors  some  common 


132  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

sailors  are  desirable.  The  Invincible  carries  17  of  these.  She 
also  has  10  marines  (epibatce),  men  trained  to  tight  in  hop- 
lites*  armor  and  to  repel  boarders.  The  Persian  ships  at  Sal- 
amis  carried  30  such  warriors,  and  often  various  Greek 
admirals  have  crowded  their  decks  with  these  heavy 
marines ;  but  the  true  Athenian  sea  warrior  disdains  them. 
Given  a  good  helmsman  and  well-trained  rowers,  and  you 
can  sink  your  opponent  with  your  ram,  while  he  is  clumsily 
trying  to  board  you.  Expert  opinion  considers  the  epibatce 
somewhat  superfluous,  and  their  use  in  most  naval  battles 
as  disgracefully  unscientific. 

111.  A  Trireme  at  Sea. — A  trireme,  then,  is  an  heroic 
fighting  instrument.  She  goes  into  battle  prepared  literally 
to  do  or  die.  If  her  side  is  once  crushed,  she  fills  with 
water  instantly,  and  the  enemy  will  be  too  busy  and  too  in- 
humane to  do  anything  but  cheer  lustily  when  they  see  the 
water  covered  with  struggling  wretches.  But  the  trireme 
is  also  a  most  disagreeable  craft  before  and  after  the  battle. 
Her  light  draft  sets  her  tossing  on  a  very  mild  sea.  In  the 
hot  southern  climate,  with  very  little  ventilation  beneath 
the  upper  deck,  with  nigh  two  hundred  panting,  naked 
human  beings  wedged  in  together  below  so  closely  that 
there  is  scarce  room  for  one  more,  the  heat,  the  smells,  the 
drudgery,  are  dreadful.  No  wonder  the  crew  demand  that 
the  trierarch  and  governor  "  make  shore  for  the  night,"  or 
that  they  weary  of  the  incessant  grating  of  the  heavy  oars 
upon  the  thole-pins. 

Thus  the  Invincible  will  seem  to  any  squeamish  voyager, 
but  not  so  to  a  distant  spectator.  For  him  a  trireme  is  a 
most  marvelous  and  magnificent  sight.  A  sister  ship,  the 
.Dcmae,1  is  just  entering  the  Peiraeus  from  Lemnos  (an  isle 
still  under  the  Athenian  sovran ty).  Her  upper  works  have 

aThe  Greek  ships  seem  to  have  been  named  either  for  mythological 
characters,  or  for  desirable  qualities  and  virtues. 


The  Peirseus  and  the  Shipping  '       133 

been  all  brightened  for  the  home-coming.  Long,  brilliant 
streamers  trail  from  her  sail  yards  and  poop.  The  flute 
player  is  blowing  his  loudest.  The  marines  stand  on  the 
forecastle  in  glittering  armor.  A  great  column  of  foam  is 
spouting  from  her  bow.1  Her  oars,  eighty-seven  to  the 
side,  pumiced  white  and  hurling  out  the  spray,  are  leaping 
back  and  forth  in  perfect  unison.  The  whole  vessel  seems 
a  thing  of  springing,  ardent  life.  It  is,  indeed,  a  sight  to 
stir  the  blood.  No  later  sailing  ship  in  her  panoply  of  can- 
vas, no  steam  battleship  with  her  grim  turrets  and  smok- 
ing funnels  can  ever  match  the  spectacle  of  a  trireme  mov- 
ing in  her  rhythm  and  glory. 

112.  The  Tactics  of  a  Naval  Battle.  —  Imagination  can  now 
picture  a  Greek  naval  battle,  fifty,  a  hundred,  two  hundred, 
or  more  of  these  splendid  battleships  flying  in  two  hostile 
lines  to  the  charge.2  Round  and  round  they  will  sail,  each 
pilot  watching  the  moment  when  an  unlucky  maneuver  by 
the  foe  will  leave  a  chance  for  an  attack ;  and  then  will 
come  the  sudden  swinging  of  the  helm,  the  frantic  "Pull 
hard !"  to  the  oarsmen,  the  rending  crash  and  shock  as  the 
ram  tears  open  the  opponent's  side,  to  be  followed  by  almost 
instant  tragedy.  If  the  direct  attack  on  the  foe's  broadside 
fails,  there  is  another  maneuver.  Run  down  upon  your  en- 
emy as  if  striking  bow  to  bow ;  the  instant  before  contact 
let  your  aim  swerve  —  a  little.  Then  call  to  your  men  to 
draw  in  their  oars  like  lightning  while  the  enemy  are  still 
working  theirs.  If  your  oarsmen  can  do  the  trick  in  time, 
you  can  now  ride  down  the  whole  of  the  foemen's  exposed  oar 
bank,  while  saving  your  own.  He  is  left  crippled  and 
helpless,  like  a  huge  centipede  with  all  the  legs  on  one  side 

1  At  her  best  a  trireme  seems  to  have  been  capable  of  making  8  to  9 
knots  per  hour. 

2  A  more  detailed  picture  of  an  ancient  naval  battle  and  its  tactics  can 
be  found  in  the  author's  historical  novel,  A  Victor  of  Salamis  (Chap. 
XXIX). 


134  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

stripped  away.  You  can  now  back  off  deliberately,  run 
out  your  oars,  and  in  cold  blood  charge  his  exposed  flank. 
If  he  does  not  now  surrender,  his  people  are  dead  men. 
Excellent  to  describe !  Not  always  so  excellent  in  perform- 
ance. Everything  depends  on  the  perfect  discipline  and 
handiness  of  your  crew. 

113.  The  Naval  Strength  of  Athens.  —  The  strength  of 
Athens  is  still  upon  the  sea.  Despite  her  defeats  in  the 
Peloponnesian  War  she  has  again  the  first  navy  in  Hellas. 
All  in  all  she  can  send  out  400  triremes  and  since  each  tri- 
reme represents  a  crew  of  over  200  men,  this  means  that 
Athens  can  dispose  of  over  80,000  souls  in  her  navy, 
whereof,  however,  only  a  minor  fraction  are  Athenian  citi- 
zens. Athens  is  quite  right  in  thus  laying  stress  upon  her 
sea  power.  Her  long  walls  and  the  Peiraeus  make  her 
practically  an  island.  Even  after  Chaeroneia,  Philip  of 
Macedon  will  be  obliged  to  give  her  honorable  terms,  —  she 
has  still  her  great  navy.  Only  after  the  defeat  of  her  fleet 
at  Amorgos  in  322  B.C.  will  she  have  to  know  all  the  pangs 
of  vassalage  to  Macedon. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
AN  ATHENIAN   COURT  TRIAL. 

114.  The  Frequency  of  Litigation  in  Athens.  —  The  visit  to 
the  Peiraeus  and  the  study  of  the  shipping  have  not  been  too 
long  to  prevent  a  brief  visit  to  one  of  the  most  characteristic 
scenes  of  Athenian  life  —  a  law  court.  Athens  is  notorious 
for  the  fondness  which  her  citizens  display  for  litigation.  In 
fact  it  is  a  somewhat  rare  and  exceptionally  peaceable,  harm- 
less, and  insignificant  citizen  who  is  not  plaintiff  or  defendant 
in  some  kind  of  action  every  few  years  or  so.  Says  Aris- 
tophanes, "  The  cicada  [grasshopper]  sings  for  only  a  month, 
but  the  people  of  Athens  are  buzzing  with  lawsuits  and 
trials  their  whole  life  long.  "  In  the  jury  courts  the  conten- 
tious, tonguey  man  can  spread  himself  and  defame  his  enemies 
to  his  heart's  content ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  a  city 
like  Athens,  where  everybody  seems  to  know  everybody  else's 
business  almost  every  citizen  is  likely  to  have  a  number  both 
of  warm  friends  and  of  bitter  enemies.  Athenians  do  not  have 
merely  "  cold  acquaintances, "  or  "  business  rivals, "  as  will 
men  of  the  twentieth  century.  They  make  no  pretenses 
to  "  Christian  charity. "  They  freely  call  an  obnoxious  in- 
dividual their  "personal  foe"  (echthros),  and  if  they  can 
defeat,  humiliate,  and  ruin  him,  they  bless  the  gods.  The 
usual  outlet  for  such  ill-feeling  is  a  fierce  and  perhaps  mutu- 
ally destructive  lawsuit. 

Then  too,  despite  Athenian  notions  of  what  constitutes  a 
gentleman,  many  citizens  are  people  of  utterly  penurious, 
niggardly  habits.  Frequently  enough  the  fellow  who  can 
136 


136  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

discuss  all  Socrates's  theories  with  you  is  quarreling  with 
his  neighbor  over  the  loan  of  salt  or  a  lamp  wick  or  some  meal 
for  sacrifice.1  If  one  of  the  customary  "club-dinners"2  is 
held  at  his  house,  he  will  be  caught  secreting  some  of  the 
vinegar,  lamp  oil,  or  lentils.  If  he  has  borrowed  something, 
say  some  barley,  take  care ;  when  he  returns  it,  he  will 
measure  it  out  in  a  vessel  with  the  bottom  dented  inward. 
A  little  ill  feeling,  a  petty  grievance  carefully  cultivated, — 
the  end  in  due  time  will  be  a  lawsuit,  costly  far  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  originating  cause. 

115.  Prosecutions  in  Athens.  —  Athens  does  not  draw  a 
sharp  line  between  public  and  private  litigation.  There  is 
no  "  state  "  or  "  district  attorney  "  to  prosecute  for  offenses 
against  public  order.  Any  full  citizen  can  prosecute  anybody 
else  upon  such  a  criminal  charge  as  murder,  no  less  than  for 
a  civil  matter  like  breach  of  contract.  All  this  leads  to  the 
growth  of  a  mischievous  clan  —  the  sycophants.  These 
harpies  are  professional  accusers  who  will  prosecute  almost 
any  rich  individual  upon  whom  they  think  they  can  fasten 
some  technical  offense.  Their  gains  are  from  two  quarters. 
If  they  convict  the  defendant,  about  half  of  the  fine  or 
property  taken  will  go  to  the  informer.  But  very  likely 
there  will  be  no  trial.  The  victim  (either  consciously  guilty, 
or  innocent  but  anxious  to  avoid  the  risk)  will  pay  a  huge 
blackmail  at  the  first  threat  of  prosecution,  and  the  case  is 
hushed  up. 

It  is  true  there  are  very  heavy  penalties  for  trumped-up 
cases,  for  unwarranted  threat  of  legal  proceedings,  for 
perjured  evidence ;  still  the  abuse  of  the  sycophants  exists, 
and  a  great  many  of  the  lawsuits  originate  with  this  uncanny- 
tribe. 

1  Persons  of  this  kidney  are  delineated  to  us  as  typical  characters  by 
Theophrastus. 

2  The  nearest  modern  equivalent  is  a  "  basket  lunch." 


An  Athenian  Court  Trial  137 

116.  The  Preliminaries  to  a  Trial.  —  There  are  official 
arbitrators  to  settle  petty  cases,  but  it  is  too  often  that  one 
or  both  parties  declare  "  the  dicasts  must  settle  it,"  and  the 
lawsuit  has  to  take  its  way.  Athenian  legal  methods  are 
simple.  Theoretically  there  are  no  professional  lawyers, 
and  every  man  must  look  out  for  himself.  The  first  busi- 
ness is  to  file  your  complaint  with  one  of  the  magistrates 
(usually  one  of  nine  archons),  and  then  with  two  witnesses 
give  formal  summons  to  your  opponent,  the  defendant,  to 
appear  on  a  set  day  in  court.  If  he  has  defaulted,  the  case 
is  usually  ended  then  in  your  favor.  This  hearing  before 
the  magistrate  is  in  any  event  an  important  part  of  the  trial. 
Here  each  side  proffers  the  laws  it  cites  to  sustain  its 
claims,  and  brings  its  witnesses,  who  can  be  more  or  less 
cross-examined.  All  the  pertinent  testimony  is  now  written 
down,  and  the  tablets  sealed  up  by  the  magistrate.  At  the 
final  trial  this  evidence  will  be  merely  read  to  the  jury,  the 
witness  in  each  instance  standing  up  before  the  court  and 
admitting,  when  duly  asked,  "  This  is  my  testimony  on  the 
case." 

Free  men  testify  under  oath,  but  a  slave's  oath  is  counted 
worthless.  The  slaves  may  be  the  only  important  witnesses 
to  a  given  act,  but  under  only  one  condition  can  they  testify. 
With  the  consent  of  their  master  they  may  testify  under 
torture.  It  is  a  critical  moment  at  this  hearing  when  a 
litigant  who  is  confident  of  his  case  proudly  announces,  "  I 
challenge  my  enemy  to  put  my  slaves  under  torture " ;  or 
the  other,  attacking  first,  cries  out,  "I  demand  that  my 
enemy  submit  his  slaves  to  torture."  Theoretically  the 
challenged  party  may  refuse,  practically  a  refusal  is  highly 
dangerous.  "If  his  slaves  didn't  know  something  bad,  why 
were  they  kept  silent  ?  "  the  jury  will  ask.  So  the  rack  is 
brought  forth.  The  wretched  menials  are  stretched  upon  it. 
One  must  hope  that  often  the  whole  process  involves  more 
show  of  cruelty  than  actual  brutality.  What  now  the  slavey 


138  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

gasp  out  between  their  twists  and  howls  is  duly  taken  down 
as  "  important  evidence,"  and  goes  into  the  record.1 

117.  The  Athenian  Jury  Courts.  —  A  convenient  interval 
has  elapsed  since  one  of  these  preliminary  hearings.  To-day 
has  been  set  for  the  actual  trial  before  a  member  of  the 
archons  in  the  "  Green "  court.  Ariston,  a  wealthy  olive 
farmer,  is  suing  Lamachus,  an  exporter  of  the  Peirseus,  for 
failing  to  account  for  the  proceeds  of  a  cargo  of  olives  lately 
shipped  to  Naxos.  To  follow  the  trial  in  entirety  we  should 
have  been  at  the  courthouse  at  first  dawn.  Then  we  would 
have  seen  the  jurymen  come  grumbling  in,  some  from  the 
suburbs,  attended  by  link  boys.  These  jurors  represent  a 
large  fraction  of  the  whole  Athenian  people.  There  are 
about  six  thousand  in  all.  Pretty  nearly  every  citizen  above 
thirty  years  of  age  can  give  in  his  name  as  desiring  jury 
duty ;  but  naturally  it  is  the  elderly  and  the  indolent  who 
most  prefer  the  service.  One  thousand  of  the  six  act  as 
mere  substitutes ;  the  rest  serve  as  often  as  the  working  of 
a  complicated  system  of  drawing  by  lot  assigns  them  to  sit 
as  jurors  on  a  particular  case.  It  is  well  there  are  five 
thousand  always  thus  available,  for  Athenian  juries  are  very 
large ;  201,  401,  501,  1001  are  numbers  heard  of,  and  some- 
times even  greater.2  The  more  important  the  case,  the  larger 
the  jury ;  but  Ariston  v.  Lamachus  is  only  a  commonplace 
affair ;  401  jurors  are  quite  enough.  Even  with  that  "  small 
court,"  the  audience  which  the  pleaders  now  have  to  address 
will  seem  huge  to  any  latter-day  lawyer  who  is  accustomed 

1  Athenian  opinion  was  on  the  whole  in  favor  of  receiving  as  valid  testi- 
mony the  evidence  extorted  thus  from  slaves  by  mere  animal  fear. 
Antiphon  the  orator  speaks  of  how  truth  may  be  wrung  from  slaves  by 
torture ;  "  by  which  they  are  compelled  to  speak  the  truth  though  they  must 
die  for  it  afterward  [at  the  hands  of  the  master  they  have  incriminated] , 
for  the  present  necessity  is  to  each  stronger  than  the  future."  This  has 
been  well  called  one  of  the  few  cases  of  extreme  stupidity  on  the  part  of 
the  Athenians. 

a  The  odd  unit  was  no  doubt  added  to  prevent  a  tie. 


An  Athenian  Court  Trial  139 

to  his  "  twelve  men  in  a  box  " ;  and  needless  to  say,  quite  dif- 
ferent methods  must  be  used  in  dealing  with  such  a  company. 
Each  "  dicast "  (to  use  the  proper  name)  has  a  boxwood 
tablet  to  show  at  the  entrance  as  his  voucher  to  the  Scythian 
police-archers  on  duty;  he  has  also  a  special  staff  of  the 
color  of  the  paint  on  the  door  of  the  court  room.1  The 
chamber  itself  is  not  especially  elegant ;  a  long  line  of  hard 
benches  rising  in  tiers  for  the  dicasts,  and  facing  these  a 
kind  of  pulpit  for  the  presiding  magistrates,  with  a  little 
platform  for  the  orators,  a  small  altar  for  the  preliminary 
sacrifice,  and  a  few  stools  for  attendants  and  witnesses  com- 
plete the  simple  furnishings.  There  are  open  spaces  for 
spectators,  though  no  seats ;  but  there  will  be  no  lack  of  an 
audience  today,  for  the  rumor  has  gone  around,  "  Hypereides 
has  written  Ariston's  argument."  The  chance  to  hear  a 
speech  prepared  by  that  famous  oration-monger  is  enough  to 
bring  every  dicast  out  early,  and  to  summon  a  swarm  of 
loiterers  up  from  the  not  distant  Agora. 

118.  The  Juryman's  Oath.  —  The  dicasts  are  assumed  to 
approach  their  duty  with  all  due  solemnity.  They  have 
sworn  to  vote  according  to  the  laws  of  Athens,  never  to  vote 
for  a  repudiation  of  debts,  nor  to  restore  political  exiles,  nor 
to  receive  bribes  for  their  votes,  nor  take  bribes  in  another's 
behalf,  nor  let  anybody  even  tempt  them  with  such  proffers. 
They  are  to  hear  both  sides  impartially  and  vote  strictly 
according  to  the  merits  of  the  case  :  and  the  oath  winds  up 
awfully  —  "  Thus  do  I  invoke  Zeus,  Poseidon,  and  Demeter 
to  smite  with  destruction  me  and  my  house  if  I  violate  any 
of  these  obligations,  but  if  I  keep  them  I  pray  for  many 
blessings."2 

1  Each  court  room  had  its  distinguishing  color.    There  were  about  ten 
regular  court  rooms,  besides  some  for  special  tribunals ;  e.g.  the  Areopagus 
for  the  trial  of  homicides. 

2  We  have  not  the  exact  text  of  all  the  dicasts'  oath,  but  we  can  repro- 
duce it  fairly  completely  from  Demosthenes's  Oration  against  Timocrates. 


140  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

119.  Opening  the  Trial.  The  Plaintiff's  Speech.  —  The  oath 
is  admirable,  but  the  dicasts  are  not  in  a  wholly  juridical 
state  of  mind.  Just  before  the  short  sacrifice  needful  to 
commence  proceedings,  takes  place,  old  Zenosthenes  on  the 
second  row  nudges  his  neighbor :  "  I  don't  like  the  looks  of 
that  Lamachus.  He  can't  be  honest,  and  gird  his  chiton 
that  way.  I  shall  vote  against  him."  "And I  —  my  wife 
knows  his  wife,  and  —  "  The  archon  rises.  The  crier  bids 
"  silence !  "  The  proceedings  begin :  but  all  through  the 
hearing  there  is  whispering  and  nudging  along  the  jurors' 
benches.  The  litigants  are  quite  aware  of  the  situation  and 
are  trying  their  best  to  win  some  advantage  therefrom. 

Ariston  is  the  first  to  speak.  He  has  taken  great  pains 
with  the  folds  of  his  himation  and  the  trim  of  his  beard  this 
morning.  He  must  be  thoroughly  genteel,  but  avoid  all  ap- 
pearance of  being  a  dandy.  In  theory  every  man  has  to 
plead  his  own  case  in  Athens,  but  not  every  man  is  an 
equally  good  orator.  If  a  litigant  is  very  inept,  he  can 
simply  say  a  few  words,  then  step  aside  with  "My  friend  so- 
and-so  will  continue  my  argument " ;  and  a  readier  talker 
will  take  his  place.1  Ariston,  however,  is  a  fairly  clever 
speaker.  Having  what  he  conceives  a  good  case,  he  has  ob- 
tained the  indirect  services  of  Hypereides,  one  of  the  first 
of  the  younger  orators  of  Athens.  Hypereides  has  written 
a  speech  which  he  thinks  is  suitable  to  the  occasion,  Ariston 
has  memorized  it,  and  delivers  it  with  considerable  gusto. 
He  has  solid  evidence,  as  is  proved  from  time  to  time  when 
he  stops  to  call,  "  Let  the  clerk  read  the  testimony  of  this 
or  that."  There  often  is  a  certain  hum  of  approbation  from 
the  dicasts  when  he  makes  his  points.  He  continues 
bravely,  therefore,  ever  and  anon  casting  an  eye  upon  the 
clepsydra  near  at  hand,  a  huge  water-clock  which,  something 

1  These  "  friends,"  however,  were  never  regular  professional  advocates ; 
it  would  have  been  ruinous  to  let  the  jury  get  the  impression  that  an 
orator  was  being  directly  hired  to  speak  to  them. 


An  Athenian  Court  Trial  141 

like  an  hour  glass,  marks  off  the  time  allotted  him.  Some 
of  his  arguments  seem  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
alleged  embezzlement.  He  vilifies  his  opponent:  calls 
Lamachus's  mother  coarse  names,  intimates  that  as  a  boy  he 
had  no  decent  schooling,  charges  him  with  cowardice  in  the 
recent  Mantinea  campaign  in  which  he  served,  hints  that 
he  has  quarreled  with  his  relatives.  On  the  other  hand, 
Ariston  grandiloquently  praises  himself  as  well  born,  well 
educated,  an  honorable  soldier  and  citizen,  a  man  any 
Athenian  would  be  glad  to  consider  a  friend.  It  is  very 
plain  all  these  personalia  delight  the  jury.1  When  Ariston's 
"  water  has  run  out "  and  he  concludes  his  speech,  there  is 
a  loud  murmur  of  applause  running  along  the  benches  of 
the  dicasts. 

120.  The  Defendant's  Speech.  Demonstrations  by  the 
Jury.  —  It  is  now  Lamachus's  turn.  He  also  has  employed 
a  professional  speech-writer  (logograplios)  of  fame,  Isaeus, 
to  prepare  his  defense.  But  almost  at  the  outset  he  is  in 
difficulties.  Very  likely  he  has  a  bad  case  to  begin  with. 
He  makes  it  worse  by  a  shrill,  unpleasant  voice  and  ungainly 
gestures.  Very  soon  many  dicasts  are  tittering  and  whisper- 
ing jibes  to  their  companions.  The  evidence  does  not  seem 
to  prove  his  contentions.  As  his  harangue  proceeds,  the 
presiding  archon  (who  has  really  very  little  control  of  the 
dicasts)  is  obliged  "to  remind  the  gentlemen  of  the  jury 
that  they  have  taken  solemn  oath  to  hear  both  sides  of 
the  question." 

Lamachus  fights  doggedly  on.  Having  put  in  all  his  real 
arguments,  he  takes  refuge  also  in  blackguarding  his  oppo- 
nent. Did  Ariston  get  his  wealth  honestly  ?  was  not  his 
father  a  rascally  grain  dealer  who  starved  the  people? 
Yet  there  is  still  more  impatience  among  the  dicasts. 

1  For  the  depths  of  personal  insult  into  which  Greek  litigants  could  de- 
scend there  is  no  better  instance  than  Demosthenes's  (otherwise  magnifi- 
cent) Oration  on  the  Crown,  wherein  he  castigates  his  foe  ^schine*. 


142  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

Lamachus  now  uses  his  last  weapon.  Upon  the  pleader's 
stand  clamber  his  five  young  children  clad  in  black  mourn- 
ing garments.  They  all  weep  together,  and  when  not  wiping 
their  eyes,  hold  out  their  hands  like  religious  suppliants, 
toward  the  dicasts.1 

"Ah!  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,"  whines  their  father,  "if 
you  are  moved  by  the  voices  of  your  lambs  at  home,  pity  these 
here.  Acquit  me  for  their  sakes.  Do  not  find  against  me 
and  plunge  these  innocent  darlings  into  want  and  misery,  by 
impoverishing  their  father." 

Appeals  like  this  have  swayed  more  than  one  jury  during 
the  last  year,  but  the  fates  are  all  against  Lamachus.  From 
a  back  bench  comes  a  dreaded  shout  that  is  instantly  caught 
up  by  the  front  tiers  also : 

"Katdba!  Katdba! —  Go  down!  Go  down!" 

Lamachus  hesitates.  If  he  obeys,  he  loses  all  the  rest  of 
his  defense.  If  he  continues  now,  he  enrages  many  of  the 
dicasts,  who  will  be  absolutely  sure  to  find  against  him.  The 
presiding  archon  vainly  rises,  and  tries  to  say  something 
about  "  fair  play."  Useless.  The  uproar  continues.  Like 
a  flock  of  scared  doves  Lamachus  and  all  his  five  children 
flee  incontinently  from  the  tribune,  amid  ironical  cheers  and 
laughter. 

121.  The  First  Verdict— There  is  silence  at  length.  "  The 
dicasts  will  proceed  to  vote,"  announces  the  court  crier. 
The  huge  urns  (one  of  bronze,  one  of  wood)  with  narrow 
mouths  are  passed  among  the  benches.  Each  juror  has  two 
round  bronze  disks,  one  solid,  one  with  a  hole  bored  in  the 
middle.  The  solid  acquit,  the  pierced  ones  convict.  A 
juror  drops  the  ballot  he  wishes  to  count  into  the  bronze 
urn;  the  other  goes  into  the  wooden  urn.  The  bronze 

1  For  such  an  appeal  to  an  Athenian  dicastery,  see  Aristophanes's 
Wasps.  The  pertinent  passages  are  quoted  in  Readings  in  Ancient  History, 
vol.  I,  p.  238-40. 


An  Athenian  Court  Trial  143 

urn  is  carried  to  the  archon,  and  there  is  an  uneasy  hush 
while  the  401  ballots  are  counted  by  the  court  officers.  As 
expected,  more  than  300  dicasts  vote  that  Ariston  is  en- 
titled to  damages  against  Lamachus  as  an  embezzler. 

122.  The  Second  and  Final  Verdict.  —  Ariston  is  smiling; 
his  friends  are  congratulating  him,  but  the  trial  is  by  no 
means  over.  If  Lamachus  had  been  found  guilty  of  some- 
thing for  which  the  law  provided  an  absolute  fixed  penalty, 
this  second  part  of  the  proceedings  could  be  omitted.  But 
here,  although  the  jury  has  said  some  damage  or  penalties 
are  due,  it  has  still  to  fix  the  amount.  Ariston  has  now  to 
propose  to  the  dicasts  a  sum  which  he  thinks  is  adequate 
to  avenge  his  wrongs  and  losses ;  Lamachus  can  propose  a 
smaller  sum  and  try  to  persuade  the  court  that  it  is  entirely 
proper.  Each  side  must  act  warily.  Athenian  jurors  are 
fickle  folk.  The  very  men  who  have  just  howled  down 
Lamachus  may,  in  a  spasm  of  repentance,  vote  for  absurdly 
low  damages.  Again,  Lamachus  must  not  propose  anything 
obviously  inadequate,  otherwise  the  jurors  who  have  just 
voted  against  him  may  feel  insulted,  and  accept  Ariston's 
estimate.1  Ariston  therefore  says  that  he  deserves  at  least 
a  talent.  Lamachus  rejoins  that  half  a  talent  is  more  than 
ample,  even  conceding  Ariston's  alleged  wrongs.  The  argu- 
ments this  time  are  shorter  and  more  to  the  point.  Then 
comes  the  second  balloting.  A  second  time  a  majority 
(smaller  this  time,  but  enough)  is  in  favor  of  Ariston.  The 
better  cause  has  conquered ;  and  there  is  at  least  this  ad- 
vantage to  the  Athenian  legal  system,  there  will  be  no  appeal 
nor  tedious  technicalities  before  a  "  higher  court."  The  ver- 
dict of  the  dicastery  is  final. 

1  Undoubtedly  Socrates  would  have  escaped  with  his  life,  if  (after  his 
original  condemnation)  he  had  proposed  a  real  penalty  to  the  jury,  instead 
of  an  absurdly  small  fine.  The  only  alternative  for  the  dicasts  was  to  accept 
the  proposition  of  his  opponents,  —  in  his  case,  death. 


144  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

123.  The  Merits   and  Defects  of  the  Athenian  Courts. — 

No  doubt  injustice  is  sometimes  done.  Sometimes  it  is  the 
honest  man  who  hears  the  dreaded  "  Kataba ! "  Sometimes 
the  weeping  children  have  their  intended  effect.  Sometimes 
it  is  the  arguments  about  "  My  opponent's  scoundrelly  ances- 
try "  which  win  the  verdict.  At  the  same  time,  your  Athe- 
nian dicast  is  a  remarkably  shrewd  and  acute  individual. 
He  can  distinguish  between  specious  rhetoric  and  a  real 
argument.  He  is  probably  honestly  anxious  to  do  justice. 
In  the  ordinary  case  where  his  personal  interests  or  prejudices 
do  not  come  into  play,  the  decision  is  likely  to  match  with 
justice  quite  as  often  perhaps  as  in  the  intricate  court  system 
of  a  great  republic  many  centuries  after  the  passing  of 
Athens. 

Certain  features  of  some  Athenian  trials  have  not  explained 
themselves  in  the  example  just  witnessed.  To  prevent 
frivolous  or  blackmailing  litigation  it  is  provided  that,  if  the 
plaintiff  in  a  suit  gets  less  than  one  fifth  of  the  ballots  in  his 
favor  (thus  clearly  showing  he  had  no  respectable  case),  he 
is  liable  to  a  heavy  fine  or,  in  default  thereof,  exile.  Again, 
we  have  not  waited  for  the  actual  closing  scene  —  the  dicasts 
each  giving  up  his  colored  staff  as  a  kind  of  voucher  to 
the  court  officers,  and  in  return  getting  his  three  obols  (9 
cents)  daily  jury  fee,  which  each  man  claps  promptly  in  his 
cheek,  and  then  goes  off  home  to  try  the  case  afresh  at  the 
family  supper. 

124.  The  Usual  Punishments  in  Athens.  — Trials  involving 
murder  or  manslaughter  come  before  the  special  court  of 
Areopagus,  and   cannot  well  be   discussed    here,  but  most 
other  criminal  cases  are  tried  before  the  dicasts  in  much 
the  same  way  as  a  civil  trial.     When  the  law  does  not  have 
a  set  penalty,  the  jury  virtually  has  to  sentence  the  defend- 
ant  after  convicting    him,  choosing   between  one    of  two 
proposed  penalties.     Greek  courts  can  inflict  death,  exile, 


An  Athenian  Court  Trial  145 

fines,  but  almost  never  imprisonment.  There  is  no  "peni- 
tentiary" or  "workhouse"  in  Athens;  and  the  only  use 
for  a  jail  is  to  confine  accused  persons  whom  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  release  on  bail  before  their  trial.  The  Athens  city 
jail  ("  The  House,"  as  it  is  familiarly  called  —  Oikema)  is 
a  very  simple  affair,  an  open  building,  carelessly  guarded 
and  free  to  visitors  all  through  the  daylight.  The  inmates 
have  to  be  kept  in  heavy  fetters,  otherwise  they  would  be 
sure  to  take  flight ;  and  indeed  escapes  from  custody  are 
somewhat  common. 

125.  The  Heavy  Penalty  of  Exile.  —  An  Athenian  will 
regard  locking  a  criminal  up  for  a  term  of  years  as  a  very 
foolish  and  expensive  proceeding.     If  he  has  nothing  where- 
with to  pay  a  round  fine,  why,  simply  send  him  into  exile. 
This  penalty  is  direful  indeed  to  a  Greek.     The  exile  has 
often  no  protector,  no  standing  in  the  courts  of  the  foreign 
city,  no  government  to  avenge  any  outrage  upon  him.     He  can 
be  insulted,  starved,  stripped,  nay,  murdered,  often  with  im- 
punity.    Worse  still,  he  is  cut  off  from  his  friends  with 
whom  all  his  life  is  tied  up ;  he  is  severed  from  the  guardian 
gods  of  his  childhood,  —  "  the  City,"  the  city  of  his  birth, 
hopes,  longings,  exists  no  more  for  him.     If  he  dies  abroad, 
he  is  not  sure  of  a  decent  funeral  pyre ;  and  meanwhile  his 
children  may   be    hungering  at    home.      So  long  as  the 
Athenians  have  this  tremendous  penalty  of  exile  at  their 
disposal,  they  do  not  feel  the  need  of  penitentiaries. 

126.  The  Death  Penalty  at  Athens.  —  There  are  also  the 
stocks  and  whipping  posts  for  meting  out  summary  justice 
to  irresponsible  offenders.     When  the  death  penalty  is  im- 
posed (and  the  matter  often  lies  in  the  discretion  of  the 
dicasts),  the  criminal,  if  of  servile  or  Barbarian  blood,  may 
be  put  to  death  in  some  hideous  manner  and  his  corpse 
tossed  into  the  Barathron,  a  vile  pit  on  the  northwest  side 
of  Athens,  there  to  be  dishonored  by  the  kites  and  crows. 


146  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

The  execution  of  Athenian  citizens,  however,  is  extremely 
humane.  The  condemned  is  given  a  cup  of  poisonous  hem- 
lock juice  and  allowed  to  drink  it  while  sitting  comfortably 
among  his  friends  in  the  prison.  Little  by  little  his  body 
grows  numb;  presently  he  becomes  senseless,  and  all  is 
over  without  any  pain.1  The  friends  of  the  victim  are  then 
at  liberty  to  give  his  body  a  suitable  burial. 

An  Athenian  trial  usually  lasts  all  day,  and  perhaps 
we  have  been  able  to  witness  only  the  end  of  it.  It 
may  well  happen,  however,  that  we  cannot  attend  a 
dicastery  at  all.  This  day  may  be  one  which  is  devoted  to 
a  meeting  of  the  public  assembly,  and  duty  summons  the 
jurors,  not  to  the  court  room,  but  to  the  Pnyx.  This  is  no 
loss  to  us,  however.  We  welcome  a  chance  to  behold  the 
Athenian  Ecclesia  in  action. 

1  No  one  can  read  the  story  of  the  death  of  Socrates  in  the  prison,  as 
told  by  Plato  in  the  Phsedo,  without  feeling  (aside  from  the  noble 
philosophical  setting)  how  much  more  humane  were  such  executions  by 
hemlock  than  is  the  modern  gallows  or  electric  chair. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 
THE  ECCLESIA  OF   ATHENS. 

127.  The  Rule   of  Democracy  in  Athens.  —  The  Ecclesia, 
or  Public  Assembly,  of  Athens  is  something  more  than  the 
chief  governmental   organ  in  the   state.     It  is  the  great 
leveling   engine   which   makes  Athens   a  true   democracy, 
despite  the  great  differences  in  wealth  between  her  inhabit- 
ants, and  the  marked  social  pretentions  of  "  the  noble  and 
the  good "  —  the  educated  classes.     At  this  time   Athens 
is    profoundly   wedded    to    her    democratic    constitution. 
Founded  by  Solon  and  Clisthenes,  developed  by  Themisto- 
cles  and  Pericles,  it  was  temporarily  overthrown  at  the  end 
of  the  Peloponnesian  War;  but  the  evil  rule  then  of  the 
"  Thirty  Tyrants  "  has  proved  a  better  lesson  on  the  evils 
of  oligarchic  rule  than  a  thousand  rhetoricians'  declama- 
tions upon  the  advantages  of  the  "  rule  of  the  many "  as 
against  the  "  rule  of  the  few."     Attica  now  acknowledges 
only  one  Lord — King  Demos — "King  Everybody"  —  and 
until  the  coming  of  bondage  to  Macedon  there  will  be  no 
serious  danger  of  an  aristocratic  reaction. 

128.  Aristocracy  and  Wealth.     Their  Status  and  Burdens.  — 

True,  there  are  old  noble  families  in  Athens,  —  like  the 
Alcmseonidae  whereof  Pericles  sprang,  and  the  Eumolpidse 
who  supply  the  priests  to  Demeter,  the  Earth  Mother. 
But  these  great  houses  have  long  since  ceased  to  claim  any- 
thing but  social  preeminence.  Even  then  one  must  take 
pains  not  to  assume  airs,  or  the  next  time  one  is  litigant 
before  the  dicastery,  the  insinuation  of  "  an  undemocratic, 
147 


148  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

oligarchic  manner  of  life  "  will  win  very  many  adverse  votes 
among  the  jury.  Nobility  and  wealth  are  only  allowed  to 
assert  themselves  in  Athens  when  justified  by  an  extraordi- 
nary amount  of  public  service  and  public  generosity. 

Xenophon  in  his  Memorabilia  makes  Socrates  tell  Critobu- 
lus,  a  wealthy  and  self-important  individual,  that  he  is  really 
so  hampered  by  his  high  position  as  to  be  decidedly  poor. 
"  You  are  obliged,"  says  Socrates,  "  to  offer  numerous  and 
magnificent  sacrifices ;  you  have  to  receive  and  entertain 
sumptuously  a  great  many  strangers,  and  to  feast  [your 
fellow]  citizens.  You  have  to  pay  heavy  contributions 
towards  the  public  service,  keeping  horses  and  furnishing 
choruses  in  peace  times  and  in  war  bearing  the  expense  of 
maintaining  triremes  and  paying  the  special  war  taxes ; 
and  if  you  fail  to  do  all  this,  they  will  punish  you  with  as 
much  severity  as  if  you  were  caught  stealing  their  money." 

129.  Athenian  Society  Truly  Democratic  up  to  a  Certain 
Point.  —  Wealth,  then,  means  one  perpetual  round  of  public 
services  and  obligations,  sweetened  perhaps  with  a  little 
empty  praise,  an  inscription,  an  honorary  crown,  or  best  of 
all,  an  honorary  statue  "to  the  public  benefactor"  as  the 
chief  reward.  On  the  other  hand  -one  may  be  poor  and  be  a 
thoroughly  self-respecting,  nay,  prominent  citizen.  Socrates 
had  an  absurdly  small  invested  fortune  and  the  gods  knew 
that  he  did  little  enough  in  the  way  of  profitable  labor.1 
He  had  to  support  his  wife  and  three  children  upon  this  in- 
come. He  wore  no  chiton.  His  himation  was  always  an 
old  one,  unchanged  from  summer  to  winter.  He  seems  to 
have  possessed  only  one  pair  of  good  sandals  all  his  life. 
His  rations  were  bread  and  water,  save  when  he  was  invited 
out.  Yet  this  man  was  welcome  in  the  "  very  best  society." 

1  Socrates's  regular  income  from  invested  property  seems  to  have  been 
only  about  $12  per  year.  It  is  to  be  hoped  his  wife,  Xanthippe,  had  a 
little  property  of  her  own ! 


The  Ecclesia  of  Athens  149 

Alcibiades,  leader  of  the  fast,  rich  set,  and  many  more  of 
the  gilded  youth  of  Athens  dogged  his  heels.  One  meets 
not  the  slightest  evidence  that  his  poverty  ever  prevented 
him  from  carrying  his  philosophic  message  home  to  the 
wealthy  and  the  noble.  There  is  no  snobbishness,  then,  in 
this  Athenian  society.  Provided  a  man  is  not  pursuing  a 
base  mechanic  art  or  an  ignoble  trade,  provided  he  has  a  real 
message  to  convey,  —  whether  in  literature,  philosophy,  or 
statecraft, — there  are  no  questions  "  who  was  your  father?" 
or  "what  is  your  income?"1  Athens  will  hear  him  and 
accept  his  best.  For  this  open-mindedness  —  almost  unique 
in  ancient  communities  —  one  must  thank  King  Demos  and 
his  mouthpiece,  the  Ecclesia. 

Athenians  are  intensely  proud  of  their  democracy.  In 
^Eschylus's  Persians,  Atossa,  the  Barbarian  queen,  asks 
concerning  the  Athenians :  — 

"  Who  is  the  lord  and  shepherd  of  their  flock  ?  " 
Very  prompt  is  the  answer :  — 

"They  are  not  slaves,  they  bow  to  no  man's  rule." 

Again  in  Euripides's  Suppliants  there  is  this  boast  touching 
Athens : — 

"No  will  of  one 

Holdeth  this  land :  it  is  a  city  and  free. 
The  whole  folk  year  by  year,  in  parity  of  service  is  our  king." 

1 30.  The  Voting  Population  of  Athens.  —  Nevertheless  when 
we  ask  about  this  "  whole  folk,"  and  who  the  voters  are,  we 
soon  discover  that  Athens  is  very  far  from  being  a  pure 
democracy.  The  multitudes  of  slaves  are  of  course  without 
votes,  and  so  is  the  numerous  class  of  the  important,  culti- 
vated, and  often  wealthy  metics.  To  get  Athenian  citizen- 
ship is  notoriously  hard.  For  a  stranger  (say  a  metic  who 

1  Possibly  the  son  of  a  man  whose  parents  notoriously  had  been  slaves 
in  Athens  would  have  found  many  doors  closed  to  him. 


150  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

had  done  some  conspicuous  public  service)  to  be  given  the 
franchise,  a  special  vote  must  be  passed  by  the  Ecclesia  it- 
self;  even  then  the  new  citizen  may  be  prosecuted  as  un- 
deserving before  a  dicastery,  and  disfranchised.  Again, 
only  children  both  of  whose  parents  are  free  Athenian 
citizens  can  themselves  be  enrolled  on  the  carefully  guarded 
lists  in  the  deme  books.  The  status  of  a  child,  one  of 
whose  parents  is  a  metic,  is  little  better  than  a  bastard.1 

Under  these  circumstances  the  whole  number  of  voters  is 
very  much  less  than  at  a  later  day  will  appear  in  American 
communities  of  like  population.  Before  the  Peloponnesian 
War,  when  the  power  of  Athens  was  at  its  highest  point, 
there  were  not  less  than  30,000  full  citizens  and  possibly  as 
many  as  40,000.  But  those  days  of  imperial  power  are  now 
ended.  At  present  Athens  has  about  21,000  citizens,  or  a 
few  more.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  gather  all  these  in 
any  single  meeting.  A  great  number  are  farmers  living  in 
the  remote  villages  of  Attica ;  many  city  dwellers  also  will 
be  too  busy  to  think  the  3-obol  (9-cent)  fee  for  attendance 
worth  their  while.2  Six  thousand  seems  to  be  a  good  num- 
ber for  ordinary  occasions  and  no  doubt  much  business  can 
be  despatched  with  less,  although  this  is  the  legal  quorum 
set  for  most  really  vital  matters.  Of  course  a  great  crisis, 
e.g.  a  declaration  of  war,  will  bring  out  nearly  every  voter 
whose  farm  is  not  too  distant. 

131.   Meeting   Times    of   the    Ecclesia.  —  Four    times    in 

1  Of  course  women  were  entirely  excluded  from  the  Ecclesia,  as  from 
all  other  forms  of  public  life.    The  question  of  "woman's  rights"  had 
been  agitated  just  enough  to  produce  comedies  like  Aristophanes's  Par- 
liament of  Women,  and  philosophical  theories  such  as  appear  in  Plato's 
Republic. 

2  Payment  for  attendance  at  the  Pnyx  seems  to  have  been  introduced 
about  390  B.C.    The  original  payment  was  probably  only  one  obol,  and 
then  from  time  to  time  increased.     It  was  a  sign  of  the  relative  decay  of 
political  interest  in  Athens  when  it  became  needful  thus  to  reward  the 
commonalty  for  attendance  at  the  Assembly. 


The  Ecclesia  of  Athens  151 

«very  prytany 1  the  Ecclesia  must  be  convened  for  ordinary 
business,  and  oftener  if  public  occasion  requires.  Five 
days'  notice  has  to  be  given  of  each  regular  meeting,  and 
along  with  the  notice  a  placard  announcing  the  proposals 
which  are  to  come  up  has  to  be  posted  in  the  Agora.  But 
if  there  is  a  sudden  crisis,  formalities  can  be  thrown  to  the 
winds ;  a  sudden  bawling  of  the  heralds  in  the  streets,  a 
great  smoky  column  caused  by  burning  the  traders'  flimsy 
booths  in  the  Agora, —  these  are  valid  notices  of  an  extraordi- 
nary meeting  to  confront  an  immediate  danger. 

If  this  has  been  a  morning  when  the  Ecclesia  has  been  in 
session,  nothing  unusual  has  occurred  at  first  in  the  busy 
Agora,  except  that  the  jury  courts  are  hardly  in  action, 
and  a  bright  flag  is  whipping  the  air  from  the  tall  flagpole  by 
the  Pnyx  (the  Assembly  Place).  Then  suddenly  there  is  a 
shouting  through  the  Agora.  The  clamor  of  traffic  around 
the  popular  flower  stalls  ceases ;  everybody  who  is  not  a  slave 
or  metic  (and  these  would  form  a  large  fraction  of  the  crowd 
of  marketers)  begins  to  edge  down  toward  one  end  of  the 
Agora.  Presently  a  gang  of  Scythian  police-archers  comes 
in  sight.  They  have  a  long  rope  sprinkled  with  red  chalk 
wherewith  they  are  "netting"  the  Agora.  The  chalk  will 
leave  an  infallible  mark  on  the  mantle  of  every  tardy  citizen, 
and  he  who  is  thus  marked  as  late  at  the  meeting  will 
lose  his  fee  for  attendance,  if  not  subject  himself  to  a  fine. 
So  there  is  a  general  rush  away  from  the  Agora  and  down 
one  of  the  various  avenues  leading  to  the  Pnyx. 

132.  The  Pnyx  (Assembly  Place)  at  Athens.  —  The  Pnyx 
is  an  open  space  of  ground  due  west  from  the  Acropolis. 

1<(A  prytany"  was  one  tenth  of  a  year,  say  35  or  36  days,  during 
which  time  the  50  representatives  of  one  of  the  ten  Athenian  tribes  then 
serving  as  members  of  the  Council  of  500  (each  tribe  taking  its  turn)  held 
the  presidency  of  the  Council  and  acted  as  a  special  executive  committee 
of  the  government.  There  were  thus  at  least  40  meetings  of  the  Ecclesia 
each  year,  as  well  as  the  extraordinary  meetings. 


152  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

It  originally  sloped  gently  away  towards  the  northeast,  but 
a  massive  retaining  wall  had  been  built  around  it,  in  an 
irregular  semicircle,  and  the  space  within  filled  with  solidly 
packed  earth  sloping  inwards,  making  a  kind  of  open  air 
auditorium.  It  is  a  huge  place,  394  feet  long,  and  213 
feet  at  the  widest.  The  earthen  slope  is  entirely  devoid  of 
seats;  everybody  casts  himself  down  sprawling  or  on  his 
haunches,  perhaps  with  an  old  himation  under  him.  Directly 
before  the  sitters  runs  a  long  ledge  hewn  out  of  the  rock, 
forming,  as  it  were,  the  "  stage "  side  of  the  theater. 
Here  the  rock  has  been  cut  away,  so  as  to  leave  a  sizable 
stone  pulpit  standing  forth,  with  a  small  flight  of  steps  on 
each  side.  This  is  the  Bema,  the  orator's  stand,  whence 
speak  the  "  demagogues," 1  the  molders  of  Athenian  public 
opinion.  In  front  of  the  Bema  there  is  a  small  portable 
altar  for  the  indispensable  sacrifices.  In  the  rear  of  the 
Bema  are  a  few  planks  laid  upon  the  rock.  Here  will  sit 
the  fifty  Prytanes  in  charge  of  the  meeting.  There  is  a 
handsome  chair  for  the  presiding  officer  upon  the  Bema  it- 
self. These  are  all  the  furnishings  of  the  structure  wherein 
Athens  makes  peace  and  war,  and  orders  her  whole  civil 
and  foreign  policy.  The  Hellenic  azure  is  the  only  roof 
above  her  sovran  law  makers.  To  the  right,  as  the  orators 
stand  on  the  Bema,  they  can  point  toward  the  Acropolis 
and  its  glittering  temples  ;  to  the  left  towards  the  Peiraeus, 
and  the  blue  sea  with  the  inevitable  memories  of  glorious 
Salamis.  Surely  it  will  be  easy  to  fire  all  hearts  with 
patriotism ! 

133.  The  Preliminaries  of  the  Meeting. — Into  this  space 
the  voters  swarm  by  hundreds  —  all  the  citizens  of  Athens, 
from  twenty  years  and  upward,  sufficiently  interested  to 
come.  At  each  crude  entrance  stands  a  corps  of  watchful 

1  A  "  demagogue  "  ( =  people-leader)  might  well  be  a  great  statesman, 
and  not  necessarily  a  cheap  and  noisy  politician. 


The  Ecclesia  of  Athens  153 

lexiarchs  and  their  clerks,  cheeking  off  those  present  and 
turning  back  interlopers.  As  the  entering  crowds  begin  to 
thin,  the  entrance  ways  are  presently  closed  by  wicker 
hurdles.  The  flag  fluttering  on  high  is  struck.  The  Ecclesia 
is  ready  for  action. 

Much  earlier  than  this,  the  farmers  and  fishermen  from 
the  hill  towns  or  from  Salamis  have  been  in  their  places, 
grumbling  at  the  slowness  of  the  officials.  People  sit  down 
where  they  can ;  little  groups  and  clans  together,  wedged  in 
closely,  chattering  up  to  the  last  minute,  watching  every 
proceeding  with  eyes  as  keen  as  cats'.  All  the  gossip  left 
over  from  the  Agora  is  disposed  of  ere  the  prytanes  — 
proverbially  late  —  scramble  into  their  seats  of  honor.  The 
police-archers  move  up  and  down,  enforcing  a  kind  of  order. 
Amid  a  growing  hush  a  sucking  pig  is  solemnly  slaughtered 
by  some  religious  functionary  at  the  altar,  and  the  dead 
victim  carried  around  the  circuit  of  the  Pnyx  as  a  symbolic 
purification  of  the  audience. 

"  Come  inside  the  purified  circuit,"  enjoins  a  loud  herald 
to  the  little  groups  upon  the  edge.1 

Then  comes  a  prayer  invoking  the  gods'  favor  upon  the 
Athenians,  their  allies,  and  this  present  meeting  in  partic- 
ular, winding  up  (the  herald  counts  this  among  the  chief 
parts  of  his  duty)  with  a  tremendous  curse  on  any  wretch 
who  should  deceive  the  folk  with  evil  counsel.  After  this 
the  real  secular  business  can  begin.  Nothing  can  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  Ecclesia  which  has  not  been  previously  con- 
sidered and  matured  by  the  Council  of  500.  The  question 
to  be  proposed  is  now  read  by  the  herald  as  a  "  Pro-boitr 
leuma  "  —  a  suggested  ordinance  by  the  Council.  Vast  as  is 
the  audience,  the  acoustic  properties  of  the  Pnyx  are  excel- 

1  Aristophanes's  Acharnians  (11.  50  ff.)  gives  a  valuable  picture  of  this 
aud  other  proceedings  at  the  Pnyx,  but  one  should  never  forget  the  poet's 
exaggerations  for  comedy  purposes,  nor  his  deliberate  omission  of  matters 
likely  to  be  mere  tedious  detail  to  his  audience. 


154  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

lent,  and  all  public  officers  and  orators  are  trained  to 
harangue  multitudes  in  the  open  air,  so  that  the  thousands 
get  every  word  of  the  proposition. 

134.  Debating  a  Proposition.  —  "Kesolved  by  the  Boule, 
the  tribe  Leontis  holding  the  prytany,  and  Heraclides 
being  clerk,  upon  the  motion  of  Tim  on  the  son  of  Tim  on 
the  Eleusinian,1  that"  —  and  then  in  formal  language  it  is 
proposed  to  increase  the  garrison  of  the  allied  city  of  Byzan- 
tium by  500  hired  Arcadian  mercenaries,  since  the  king  of 
Thrace  is  threatening  that  city,  and  its  continued  possession 
is  absolutely  essential  to  the  free  import  of  grain  into 
Attica. 

There  is  a  hush  of  expectancy  ;  a  craning  of  necks. 

"  Who  wishes  to  speak?"  calls  the  herald. 

After  a  decent  pause  Timon,  the  mover  of  the  measure, 
comes  forward.  He  is  a  fairly  well-known  character  and 
commands  a  respectable  faction  among  the  Demos.  There 
is  some  little  clapping,  mixed  with  jeering,  as  he  mounts  the 
Benia.  The  president  of  the  prytanes  —  as  evidence  that 
he  has  now  the  right  to  harangue  —  hands  him  a  myrtle 
wreath  which  he  promptly  claps  on  his  head,  and  launches 
into  his  argument.  Full  speedily  he  has  convinced  at  least 
a  large  share  of  the  audience  that  it  was  sheer  destruction 
to  leave  Byzantium  without  an  efficient  garrison.  Grain 
would  soon  be  at  famine  prices  if  the  town  were  taken,  etc., 
etc.  The  only  marvel  is  that  the  merciful  gods  have  averted 
the  disaster  so  long  in  the  face  of  such  neglect.  —  Why  had 
the  board  of  strategi,  responsible  in  such  matters,  neglected 
this  obvious  duty?  [Cheers  intermixed  with  catcalls.] 
This  was  not  the  way  the  men  who  won  Marathon  had  dealt 
with  dangers,  nor  later  worthies  like  Nicias  or  Thrasybulus. 

1  This  seems  to  have  been  the  regular  form  for  beginning  a  probouleuma 
although  nearly  all  our  information  comes  from  the  texts  of  proposals 
after  they  have  been  made  formal  decrees  by  the  sovran  Demos. 


The  Ecclesia  of  Athens  155 

[More  cheers  and  catcalls.]  He  winds  up  with  a  splendid 
invocation  to  Earth,  Sky,  and  Justice  to  bear  witness  that  all 
this  advice  is  given  solely  with  a  view  to  the  weal  of 
Athens. 

"  He  had  Isocrates  teach  him  how  to  launch  that  perora- 
tion," mutters  a  crabbed  old  citizen  behind  his  peak- 
trimined  beard,  as  Timon  descends  amid  mingled  applause 
and  derision. 

"Very  likely;  Iphicrates  is  ready  to  answer  him,"  replies 
a  fellow. 

"  Who  wishes  to  speak  ?  "  the  herald  demands  again. 
From  a  place  directly  before  the  Bema  a  well-known  figure, 
the  elderly  general,  Iphicrates,  is  rising.  At  a  nod  from  the 
president,  he  mounts  the  Bema  and  assumes  the  myrtle.  He 
has  not  Timon's  smooth  tones  nor  oratorical  manner.  He 
is  a  man  of  action  and  war,  and  no  tool  of  the  Agora  coteries. 
A  salvo  of  applause  greets  him.  Very  pithily  he  observes 
that  Byzantium  will  be  safe  enough  if  the  city  will  only  be 
loyal  to  the  Athenian  alliance.  Athens  needs  all  her  garri- 
sons nearer  home.  Timon  surely  knows  the  state  of  the 
treasury.  Is  he  going  to  propose  a  special  tax  upon  his 
fellow  countrymen  to  pay  for  those  500  mercenaries  ? 
[Loud  laughter  and  derisive  howls  directed  at  Timon.] 
Athens  needs  to  keep  her  strength  for  real  dangers;  and 
those  are  serious  enough,  but  not  at  Byzantium.  At  the 
next  meeting  he  and  the  other  strategi  will  recommend  — 
etc.,  etc.  When  Iphicrates  quits  the  Bema  there  is  little 
left  of  Timon's  fine  "  Earth,  Sky,  and  Justice." 

135.  Voting  at  the  Pnyx. — But  other  orators  follow  on 
both  sides.  Once  Timon,  egged  on  by  many  supporters, 
tries  to  gain  the  Bema  a  second  time,  but  is  told  by  the 
president  that  one  cannot  speak  twice  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. Once  the  derision  and  shouting  becomes  so  violent 
that  the  president  has  to  announce,  "Unless  there  is  si- 


156  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

lence  I  must  adjourn  the  meeting."  Finally,  after  an  unsuc- 
cessful effort  to  amend  the  proposal,  by  reducing  the 
garrison  at  Byzantium  to  250,  the  movers  of  the  measure 
realize  that  the  votes  will  probably  be  against  them.  They 
try  to  break  up  the  meeting. 

"  I  hear  thunder !  "  "I  feel  rain  !  "  they  begin  shout- 
ing, and  such  ill  omens,  if  really  in  evidence,  would  be 
enough  to  force  an  adjournment ;  but  the  sky  is  delightfully 
clear.  The  president  simply  shrugs  his  shoulders ;  and 
now  the  Pnyx  is  fairly  rocking  with  the  yell,  "  A  vote  !  A 
vote ! " 

The  president  rises.  Taking  the  vote  in  the  Ecclesia  is  a 
very  simple  matter  when  it  is  a  plain  question  of  "  yes  " 
or  "  no  "  on  a  proposition.1 

"  All  who  favor  the  probouleuma  of  Timon  will  raise  the 
right  hand ! " 

A  respectable  but  very  decided  minority  shows  itself. 

"  Those  who  oppose." 

The  adverse  majority  is  large.  The  morning  is  quite 
spent.  There  is  a  great  tumult.  Men  are  rising,  putting 
on  their  himatia,  ridiculing  Timon ;  while  the  herald  at  a 
nod  from  the  president  declares  the  Ecclesia  adjourned. 

136.  The  Ecclesia  as  an  Educational  Instrument.  —  Timon 
and  his  friends  retire  crestfallen  to  discuss  the  fortunes  of 
war.  They  are  not  utterly  discouraged,  however.  The  Ec- 
clesia is  a  fickle  creature.  What  it  withholds  to-day  it  may 
grant  to-morrow.  Iphicrates,  whose  words  have  carried 
such  weight  now,  may  soon  be  howled  down  and  driven 
from  the  Bema  much  as  was  the  unfortunate  litigant  in  the 
jury  court.  Still,  with  all  its  faults,  the  Ecclesia  is  the 
great  school  for  the  adults  of  Athens.  All  are  on 
terms  of  perfect  equality.  King  Demos  is  not  the  least 
respecter  of  wealth  and  family.  Sophistries  are  usually 

1  When  an  individual  had  to  be  voted  for,  then  ballots  were  used. 


The  Ecclesia  of  Athens  157 

penetrated  in  a  twinkling  by  some  coarse  expletive  from  a 
remote  corner  of  the  Pnyx.  Every  citizen  understands  the 
main  issues  of  the  public  business.  He  is  part  of  the  actual 
working  government,  not  once  per  year  (or  less  often)  at 
the  ballot  box,  but  at  least  forty  times  annually ;  and  dolt 
he  would  be,  did  he  not  learn  at  least  all  the  superficialities 
of  statecraft.  He  may  make  grievous  errors.  He  may  be 
misled  by  mob  prejudice  or  mob  enthusiasm  ;  but  he  is  not 
likely  to  persist  in  a  policy  of  crass  blundering  very  long. 
King  Demos  may  indeed  rule  a  fallible  human  monarchy, 
but  it  is  thanks  to  him,  and  to  his  high  court  held  at  the 
Pnyx,  that  Athens  owes  at  least  half  of  that  sharpness  of 
wit  and  intelligence  which  is  her  boast. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 
THE   AFTERNOON  AT   THE   GYMNASIA. 

137.  The    Gymnasia.     Places    of    General   Resort. — The 

market  is  thinning  after  a  busy  day  ;  the  swarms  of  farmer- 
hucksters  with  their  weary  asses  are  trudging  homeward ; 
the  schoolrooms  are  emptying ;  the  dicasteries  or  the  Eccle- 
sia,  as  the  case  may  be,  have  adjourned.  Even  the  slave 
artisans  in  the  factories  are  allowed  to  slacken  work. 
The  sun,  a  ball  of  glowing  fire,  is  slowly  sinking  to  west- 
ward over  the  slopes  of  ^Egaleos ;  the  rock  of  the  Acropolis 
is  glowing  as  if  in  flame;  intense  purple  tints  are  creep- 
ing over  all  the  landscape.  The  day  is  waning,  and  all 
Athenians  who  can  possibly  find  leisure  are  heading  towards 
the  suburbs  for  a  walk,  a  talk,  and  refreshment  of  soul 
and  body  at  the  several  Gymnasia. 

Besides  various  private  establishments  and  small  "  wrest- 
ling schools "  for  the  boys,  there  are  three  great  public 
Gymnasia  at  Athens,  —  the  Lyceum  to  the  east  of  the  town; 
the  Cynosarges l  to  the  southward ;  and  last,  but  not  at  all 
least,  the  Academy.  This  is  the  handsomest,  the  most 
famous,  the  most  characteristic.  We  shall  do  well  to  visit  it. 

138.  The  Road  to  the  Academy.  —  We  go  out  toward  the 
northwest  of  the  city,  plunging  soon  into  a  labyrinth   of 
garden  walls,  fragrant  with  the  fruit  and  blossoms  within, 
wander  amid  dark  olive  groves  where  the  solemn  leaves  of 

1  The  Cynosarges  was  the  only  one  of  these  freely  opened  to  such  Athe- 
nians as  had  non-Athenian  mothers.  The  other  two  were  reserved  for  the 
strictly  "full  citizens." 

158 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia        159 

the  sacred  trees  are  talking  sweetly;  and  presently  mount 
a  knoll  by  some  suburban  farm  buildings,  then  look  back  to 
find  that  slight  as  is  the  elevation,  here  is  a  view  of  mar- 
velous beauty  across  the  city,  the  Acropolis,  and  the 
guardian  mountains.  From  the  rustling  ivy  coverts  come 
the  melodious  notes  of  birds.  We  are  glad  to  learn  that 
this  is  the  suburb  of  Colonus,  the  home  of  Sophocles  the 
tragedian,  and  here  is  the  very  spot  made  famous  in  the  re- 
nowned chorus  of  his  (Edipous  at  Colonus.  It  is  too  early,  of 
course,  to  enjoy  the  nightingale  which  the  poet  asserts  sings 
often  amid  the  branches,  but  the  scene  is  one  of  marvelous 
charm.  We  are  not  come,  however,  to  admire  Colonus. 
The  numerous  strollers  indicate  our  direction.  Turning 
a  little  to  the  south,  we  see,  embowered  amid  the  olive 
groves  which  line  the  unseen  stream  of  the  Cephissos,  a 
wall,  and  once  beyond  it  find  ourselves  in  a  kind  of  spacious 
park  combined  with  an  athletic  establishment.  This  is  the 
Academy,  —  founded  by  Hipparchus,  son  of  Peisistratus 
the  tyrant,  but  given  its  real  embellishments  and  beauty  by 
Cimon,  the  son  of  Miltiades  the  victor  of  Marathon. 

139.  The  Academy.  —  The  Academy  is  worthy  of  the 
visit.  The  park  itself  is  covered  with  olive  trees  and  more 
graceful  plane  trees.  The  grass  beneath  us  is  soft  and 
delightful  to  the  bare  foot  (and  nearly  everybody,  we 
observe,  has  taken  off  his  sandals).  There  are  marble  and 
bronze  statues  skilfully  distributed  amid  the  shrubbery 
—  shy  nymphs,  peeping  fauns,  bold  satyrs.  Yonder  is  a 
spouting  fountain  surmounted  by  a  noble  Poseidon  with  his 
trident;  above  the  next  fountain  rides  the  ocean  car  of 
Amphitrite.  Presently  we  come  to  a  series  of  low  build- 
ings. Entering,  we  find  them  laid  out  in  a  quadrangle  with 
porticoes  on  every  side,  somewhat  like  the  promenades 
around  the  Agora.  Inside  the  promenades  open  a  series  of 
ample  rooms  for  the  use  of  professional  athletes  during 


160  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

stormy  weather,  and  for  the  inevitable  bathing  and  anoint- 
ing with  oil  which  will  follow  all  exercise.  This  great 
square  court  formed  by  the  "gymnasium"  proper  is  swarm- 
ing with  interesting  humanity,  but  we  pass  it  hastily  in 
order  to  depart  by  an  exit  on  the  inner  side  and  discover 
a  second  more  conventionally  laid  out  park.  Here  to  right 
and  to  left  are  short  stretches  of  soft  sand  divided  into 
convenient  sections  for  wrestling,  for  quoit  hurling,  for 
javelin  casting,  and  for  jumping;  but  a  loud  shout  and 
cheering  soon  draw  us  onward.  At  the  end  of  this  park 
we  find  the  stadium  ;  a  great  oval  track,  600  feet  (a  stadium) 
for  the  half  circuit,  with  benches  and  all  the  paraphernalia 
for  a  foot  race.  The  first  contests  have  just  ended.  The 
racers  are  standing,  panting  after  their  exertions,  but  their 
friends  are  talking  vehemently.  Out  in  the  sand,  near  the 
statue  of  Hermes  (the  patron  god  of  gymnasia)  is  a  digni- 
fied and  self-conscious  looking  man  in  a  purple-edged  chiton 
—  the  gymnasiarch,  the  official  manager  of  the  Academy. 
While  he  waits  to  organize  a  second  race  we  can  study  the 
visitors  and  habitues  of  the  gymnasium. 

140.  The  Social  Atmosphere  and  Human  Types  at  the 
Academy. — What  the  Pnyx  is  to  the  political  life  of  Athens, 
this  the  Academy  and  the  other  great  gymnasia  are  to  its 
social  and  intellectual  as  well  as  its  physical  life.  Here  in 
daily  intercourse,  whether  in  friendly  contest  of  speed  or 
brawn,  or  in  the  more  valuable  contest  of  wits,  the  youth  of 
Athens  complete  their  education  after  escaping  from  the 
rod  of  the  schoolmaster.  Here  they  have  daily  lessons  on 
the  mottoes,  which  (did  such  a  thing  exist)  should  be 
blazoned  on  the  coat  of  arms  of  Greece,  as  the  summing  up 
of  all  Hellenic  wisdom :  — 

"  Know  thyself," 
and  again :  — 

u  Be  moderate." 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia       161 

Precept,  example,  and  experience  teach  these  truths  at 
the  gymnasia  of  Athens.  Indeed,  on  days  when  the 
Ecclesia  is  not  in  session,  when  no  war  is  raging,  and  they 
are  not  busy  with  a  lawsuit,  many  Athenians  will  spend 
almost  the  whole  day  at  the  Academy.  For  whatever  are 
your  interests,  here  you  are  likely  to  find  something  to 
engross  you. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  not  everybody  at  the  Academy 
comes  here  for  physical  or  mental  improvement.  We  see 
a  little  group  squatting  and  gesticulating  earnestly  under  an 
old  olive  tree  —  they  are  obviously  busy,  not  with  philo- 
sophic theory,  but  with  dice.  Again,  two  young  men  pass  us 
presenting  a  curious  spectacle.  They  are  handsomely 
dressed  and  over  handsomely  scented,  but  each  carries  care- 
fully under  each  arm  a  small  cock ;  and  from  time  to  time 
they  are  halted  by  friends  who  admire  the  birds.  Clearly 
these  worthies'  main  interests  are  in  cockfighting ;  and 
they  are  giving  their  favorites  "  air  and  exercise "  before 
the  deadly  battle,  on  which  there  is  much  betting,  at  the 
supper  party  that  night.  Also  the  shouting  and  rumbling 
from  a  distance  tells  of  the  chariot  course,  where  the  sons 
of  the  more  wealthy  or  pretentious  families  are  lessening 
their  patrimonies  by  training  a  "  two  "  or  a  "  four  "  to  con- 
tend at  the  Isthmian  games  or  at  Olympia. 

141.  Philosophers  and  Cultivated  Men  at  the  Gymnasia.— 
All  these  things  are  true,  and  Athens  makes  full  display 
here  of  the  usual  crop  of  knaves  or  fools.  Nevertheless  this 
element  is  in  the  minority.  Here  a  little  earlier  or  a  little 
later  than  our  visit  (for  just  now  he  is  in  Sicily)  one  could 
see  Plato  himself  —  walking  under  the  shade  trees  and  ex- 
pounding to  a  little  trailing  host  of  eager-eyed  disciples  the 
fundamental  theories  of  his  ideal  Commonwealth.  Here  are 
scores  of  serious  bearded  faces,  and  heads  sprinkled  with 
gray,  moving  to  and  fro  in  small  groups,  discussing  in  me- 


162  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

/odious  Attic  the  philosophy,  the  poetry,  the  oration,  which 
has  been  partly  considered  in  the  Agora  this  morning,  and 
which  will  be  further  discussed  at  the  symposium  to- 
night. Everything  is  entirely  informal.  Even  white-haired 
gentlemen  do  not  hesitate  to  cast  off  chiton  and  himation 
and  spring  around  nimbly  upon  the  sands,  to  "  try  their  dis- 
tance "  with  the  quoits,  or  show  the  young  men  that  they 
have  not  forgotten  accuracy  with  the  javelin,  or  even, 
against  men  of  their  own  age,  to  test  their  sinews  in  a  mild 
wrestling  bout.  It  is  undignified  for  an  old  man  to  attempt 
hard  feats  beyond  his  advanced  years.  No  one  expects  any 
great  proficiency  from  most  of  those  present.  It  is  enough 
to  attempt  gracefully,  and  to  laugh  merrily  if  you  do  not 
succeed.  Everywhere  there  is  the  greatest  good  nature,  and 
even  frolicking,  but  very  little  of  the  really  boisterous. 

142.  The  Beautiful  Youths  at  the  Academy.  —  Yet  the 
majority  of  the  visitors  to  the  Academy  have  an  interest 
that  is  not  entirely  summed  up  in  proper  athletics,  or  in  the 
baser  sports,  or  in  philosophy.  Every  now  and  then  a  lit- 
tle whisper  runs  among  the  groups  of  strollers  or  athletes : 
"  There  he  goes !  —  a  new  one  !  How  beautiful ! "  —  and 
there  is  a  general  turning  of  heads. 

A  youth  goes  by,  his  body  quite  stripped,  and  delicately 
bronzed  by  constant  exposure  to  the  sun.  His  limbs  are 
graceful,  but  vigorous  and  straight,  his  chest  is  magnifi- 
cently curved.  He  lifts  his  head  modestly,  yet  with  a 
proud  and  easy  carriage.  His  hair  is  dark  blonde ;  his  pro- 
file very  "Greek"  —  nose  and  forehead  joining  in  unbroken 
straight  line.  A  little  crowd  is  following  him ;  a  more 
favored  comrade,  a  stalwart,  bearded  man,  walks  at  his  side. 
No  need  of  questioning  now  whence  the  sculptors  of  Athens 
get  their  inspiration.  This  happy  youth,  just  out  of  the 
schoolroom,  and  now  to  be  enrolled  as  an  armed  ephebus, 
will  be  the  model  soon  for  some  immortal  bronze  or  marble. 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia       163 

Fortunate  is  he,  if  his  humility  is  not  ruined  by  all  the  ad- 
miration and  flattery ;  if  he  can  remember  the  injunctions 
touching  "modesty,"  which  master  and  father  have  repeated 
so  long ;  if  he  can  remember  the  precept  that  true  beauty  of 
body  can  go  only  with  true  beauty  of  soul.  Now  at  least  is 
his  day  of  hidden  or  conscious  pride.  All  Athens  is  com- 
mending him.  He  is  the  reigning  toast,  like  the  "  belle  "  of 
a  later  age.  Not  the  groundlings  only,  but  the  poets,  rhet- 
oricians, philosophers,  will  gaze  after  him,  seek  an  intro- 
duction, compliment  him  delicately,  give  themselves  the 
pleasure  of  making  him  blush  deliciously,  and  go  back  to 
their  august  problems  unconsciously  stimulated  and  re- 
freshed by  this  vision  of  "the  godlike."1 

143.  The  Greek  Worship  of  Manly  Beauty.  —  The  Greek 
worship  of  the  beautiful  masculine  form  is  something  which 
the  later  world  will  never  understand.  In  this  worship 
there  is  too  often  a  coarseness,  a  sensual  dross,  over  which  a 
veil  is  wisely  cast.  But  the  great  fact  of  this  worship  re- 
mains :  to  the  vast  majority  of  Greeks  "  beauty  "  does  not 
imply  a  delicate  maid  clad  in  snowy  drapery ;  it  implies  a 
perfectly  shaped,  bronzed,  and  developed  youth,  standing 
forth  in  his  undraped  manhood  for  some  hard  athletic  bat- 
tle. This  ideal  possesses  the  national  life,  and  affects  the 
entire  Greek  civilization.  Not  beauty  in  innocent  weakness, 
but  beauty  in  resourceful  strength — before  this  beauty  men 
bow  down.2 

i  For  pertinent  commentary  on  the  effect  of  meeting  a  beautiful  youth 
upon  very  grave  men,  see,  e.g.,  Plato's  Charmides  (esp.  158  a)  and  Lysis 
(esp.  206  d).  Or  better  still  in  Xenophon's  Symposium  (I.  9),  where  we 
hear  of  the  beautiful  youth  Autolycus,  "  even  as  a  bright  light  at  night 
draws  every  eye,  so  by  his  beauty  drew  on  him  the  gaze  of  all  the  com- 
pany [at  the  banquet] .  Not  a  man  was  present  who  did  not  feel  his  emo- 
tions stirred  by  the  sight  of  him," 

*  Plato  (Republic,  p.  402)  gives  the  view  of  enlightened  Greek  opinion 
when  he  states,  "There  can  be  no  fairer  spectacle  than  that  of  a  man  who 


164  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

It  is  this  masculine  type  of  beauty,  whether  summed  up 
in  a  physical  form  or  translated  by  imagery  into  the  realm 
of  the  spirit,  that  Isocrates  (a  very  good  mouthpiece  for 
average  enlightened  opinion)  praises  in  language  which 
strains  even  his  facile  rhetoric.  "  [Beauty]  is  the  first  of 
all  things  in  majesty,  honor,  and  divineness.  Nothing  de- 
void of  beauty  is  prized;  the  admiration  of  virtue  itself 
comes  to  this,  that  of  all  manifestations  of  life,  virtue  is 
the  most  beautiful.  The  supremacy  of  beauty  over  all 
things  can  be  seen  in  our  own  disposition  toward  it,  and 
toward  them.  Other  things  we  merely  seek  to  attain  as  we 
need  them,  but  beautiful  things  inspire  us  with  love,  love 
which  is  as  much  stronger  than  wish  as  its  object  is  better. 
To  the  beautiful  alone,  as  to  the  gods,  we  are  never  tired 
of  doing  homage;  delighting  to  be  their  slaves  rather  than 
to  be  the  rulers  of  others." 

Could  we  put  to  all  the  heterogeneous  crowd  in  the  wide 
gymnasium  the  question,  "  What  things  do  you  desire 
most  ? "  the  answer  "  To  be  physically  beautiful "  (not 
"  handsome  "  merely,  but  "  beautiful ")  would  come  among 
the  first  wishes.  There  is  a  little  song,  very  popular  and 
very  Greek.  It  tells  most  of  the  story. 

The  best  of  gifts  to  mortal  man  is  health  ; 

The  next  the  bloom  of  beauty's  matchless  flower ; 
The  third  is  blameless  and  unfraudful  wealth ; 

The  fourth  with  friends  to  speed  youths'  joyous  hour.1 

Health  and  physical  beauty  thus  go  before  wealth  and 
the  passions  of  friendship,  —  a  true  Greek  estimate ! 

combines  the  possession  of  moral  beauty  in  his  soul,  with  outward  beauty 
of  body,  corresponding  and  harmonizing  with  the  former,  because  the 
same  great  pattern  enters  into  both." 

1  Translation  by  Milman.  The  exact  date  of  this  Greek  poem  is 
uncertain,  but  its  spirit  is  entirely  true  to  that  of  Athens  at  the  time  of 
this  sketch. 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia       165 

144.  The  Detestation  of  Old  Age.  —  Again,  we  are  quick  to 
learn  that  this  "beauty"  is  the  beauty  of  youth.     It  is 
useless  to  talk  to  an  Athenian  of  a  "beautiful  old  age." 
Old  age  is  an  evil  to  be  borne  with  dignity,  with  resignation 
if  needs  be,  to  be  fought  against  by  every  kind  of  bodily 
exercise ;    but  to  take  satisfaction  in  it  ?  —  impossible.     It 
means  a  diminishing  of  those  keen  powers  of  physical  and 
intellectual  enjoyment  which  are  so  much  to  every  normal 
Athenian.     It  means  becoming  feeble,  and  worse  than  feeble, 
ridiculous.     The  physician's  art  has  not  advanced  so  far  as 
to  prevent  the  frequent  loss  of  sight  and  hearing  in  even 
moderate  age.     No  hope  of  a  future  renewal  of  noble  youth 
in  a  happier  world  gilds  the  just  man's  sunset.     Old  age 
must,  like  the  untimely  passing  of  loved  ones,  be  endured 
in  becoming  silence,  as  one  of  the  fixed  inevitables ;  but  it  is 
gloomy  work  to  pretend  to  find  it  cheerful.     Only  the  young 
can  find  life  truly  happy.     Euripides  in  The,  Mad  Heracles 
speaks  for  all  his  race :  — 

Tell  me  not  of  the  Asian  tyrant, 

Or  of  palaces  plenished  with  gold ; 
For  such  bliss  I  am  not  an  aspirant, 

If  youth  I  might  only  behold :  — 
Youth  that  maketh  prosperity  higher, 
And  ever  adversity  lighter.1 

145.  The  Greeks  unite  Moral  and  Physical  Beauty.  —  But 

here  at  the  Academy,  this  spirit  of  beautiful  youth,  and  the 
"joy  of  life,"  is  everywhere  dominant.  All  around  us  are 
the  beautiful  bodies  of  young  men  engaged  in  every  kind  of 
graceful  exercise.  When  we  question,  we  are  told  that 
current  belief  is  that  in  a  great  majority  of  instances  there 
is  a  development  and  symmetry  of  mind  corresponding  to 
the  glory  of  the  body.  It  is  contrary  to  all  the  prevalent 

iMahaffy,   translator.     Another  very  characteristic  lament  for  the 
passing  of  youth  is  left  us  by  the  early  elegiac  poet  Mimnermus. 


166  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

notions  of  the  reign  of  "  divine  harmony  "  to  have  it  other- 
wise.  The  gods  abhor  all  gross  contradictions !  Even  now 
men  will  argue  over  a  strange  breach  of  this  rule ;  —  why 
did  heaven  suffer  Socrates  to  have  so  beautiful  a  soul  set  in 
so  ugly  a  body  ?  —  Inscrutable  are  the  ways  of  Zeus ! 

However,  we  have  generalized  and  wandered  enough. 
The  Academy  is  a  place  of  superabounding  activities.  Let 
us  try  to  comprehend  some  of  them. 

146.  The  Usual   Gymnastic   Sports  and   their  Objects. — 

Despite  all  the  training  in  polite  conversation  which  young 
men  are  supposed  to  receive  at  the  gymnasium,  the  object 
of  the  latter  is  after  all  to  form  places  of  athletic  exercise. 
The  Athenians  are  without  most  of  those  elaborate  field 
games  such  as  later  ages  will  call  "baseball"  and  "foot- 
ball"; although,  once  learned,  they  could  surely  excel  in 
these  prodigiously.  They  have  a  simple  "catch"  with 
balls,  but  it  hardly  rises  above  the  level  of  a  children's  pas- 
time. The  reasons  for  these  omissions  are  probably,  first, 
because  so  much  time  is  devoted  to  the  "palaestra"  exer- 
cises ;  secondly,  because  military  training  eats  up  about  all 
the  time  not  needed  for  pure  gymnastics. 

The  "  palaestra  "  exercises,  taught  first  at  the  boys'  train- 
ing establishments  and  later  continued  at  the  great  gym- 
nasia, are  nearly  all  of  the  nature  of  latter-day  "field 
sports."  They  do  not  depend  on  the  costly  apparatus  of 
twentieth  century  athletic  halls ;  and  they  accomplish  their 
ends  with  extremely  simple  means.  The  aim  of  the  in- 
structor is  really  twofold  —  to  give  his  pupils  a  body  fit 
and  apt  for  war  (and  we  have  seen  that  to  be  a  citizen 
usually  implies  being  a  hoplite),  and  to  develop  a  body 
beautiful  to  the  eye  and  efficient  for  civil  life.  The  nat- 
urally beautiful  youth  can  be  made  more  beautiful;  the 
naturally  homely  youth  can  be  made  at  least  passable  under 
the  care  of  a  skilful  gymnastic  teacher. 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia       167 

147.  Professional    Athletes:    the   Pancration.  —  Athletics, 
then,  are  a  means  to  an  end  and  should  not  be  tainted  with 
professionalism.     True,  as  we  wander  about  the  Academy 
we  see  heavy  and  over  brawny  individuals  whose  "  beauty  " 
consists  in  flattened  noses,  mutilated  ears,  and  mouths  lack- 
ing many  teeth,  and  who  are  taking  their  way  to  the  remote 
quarter  where  boxing  is  permitted.     Here  they  will  wind 
hard  bull's  hide  thongs  around  their  hands  and  wrists,  and 
pummel  one  another  brutally,  often  indeed  (if  in  a  set  con- 
test) to  the  very  risk  of  life.     These  men  are  obviously  pro- 
fessional athletes  who,  after  appearing  with  some  success  at 
the  "  Nemea,"  are  in  training  for  the  impending  "  Pythia  " 
at  Delphi.     A  large  crowd  of  youths  of  the  less  select  kind 
follows   and  cheers  them ;   but  the  better  public  opinion 
frowns  on  them.     They  are  denounced  by  the  philosophers. 
Their  lives  no  less  than  their  bodies  "are  not  beautiful" 
—  i.e.  they  offend  against  the  spirit  of  harmony  inherent  in 
every  Greek.     Still  less  are  they  in  genteel  favor  when,  the 
preliminary  boxing  round  being  finished,  they  put  off  their 
boxing  thongs  and  join  in  the  fierce  Pancration,  a  not  un- 
skilful combination  of  boxing  with  wrestling,  in  which  it 
is  not  suffered  to  strike  with  the  knotted  fist,  but  in  which, 
nevertheless,  a  terrible  blow  can  be  given  with  the  bent 
fingers.     Kicking,  hitting,  catching,  tripping,  they  strive 
together  mid  the  "  Euge  !  Euge  !  —  Bravo !  Bravo !  "  of  their 
admirers  until  one  is  beaten  down  hopelessly  upon  the  sand, 
and  the  contest  ends  without  harm.     Had  it  been  a  real 
Pancration,  however,  it  would  have  been  desperate  business, 
for  it  is  quite  permissible  to  twist  an  opponent's  wrist,  and 
even  to  break  his  fingers,  to  make  him  give  up  the  contest. 
Therefore  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Pancration,  even  more 
than  boxing,  is  usually  reserved  for  professional  athletes. 

148.  Leaping  Contests.  —  But  near  at  hand  is  a  more  pleas- 
ing contest.     Youths  of  the  ephebus  age  are  practicing  leap 


168  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

ing.  They  have  no  springboard,  no  leaping  pole,  but  only 
a  pair  of  curved  metal  dumb-bells  to  aid  them.  One  after 
another  their  lithe  brown  bodies,  shining  with  the  fresh 
olive  oil,  come  forward  on  a  lightning  run  up  the  little 
mound  of  earth,  then  fly  gracefully  out  across  the  soft 
sands.  There  is  much  shouting  and  good-natured  rivalry. 
As  each  lad  leaps,  an  eager  attendant  marks  his  distance 
with  a  line  drawn  by  the  pickaxe.  The  lines  gradually 
extend  ever  farther  from  the  mound.  The  rivalry  is  keen. 
Finally,  there  is  one  leap  that  far  exceeds  the  rest.1  A  merry 
crowd  swarms  around  the  blushing  victor.  A  grave  middle- 
aged  man  takes  the  ivy  crown  from  his  head,  and  puts  it 
upon  the  happy  youth.  "  Your  father  will  take  joy  in  you," 
he  says  as  the  knot  breaks  up. 

149.  Quoit  Hurling.  —  Close  by  the  leapers   is  another 
stretch  of  yellow  sand   reserved  for  the  quoit   throwers. 
The  contestants  here  are  slightly  older,  —  stalwart  young 
men,  who  seem,  as  they  fling  the  heavy  bronze  discus,  to  be 
reaching  out  eagerly  into  the  fulness  of   life  and   fortune 
before  them.     Very  graceful  are  the  attitudes.     Here  it  was 
the  sculptor  Miron  saw  his  "  Discobolus  "  which  he  immor- 
talized and  gave  to  all  the  later  world  ;  "stooping  down  to 
take  aim,  his  body  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  hand  which 
holds  the  quoit,  one  knee  slightly  bent  as  though  he  meant 
to  vary  the  posture  and  to  rise  with  the  throw." 2    The  caster, 
however,  does  not  make  his  attempt  standing.     He  takes  a 
short  run,  and  then  the  whole  of  his  splendid  body  seems  to 
spring  together  with  the  cast. 

150.  Casting  the  Javelin.  —  The  range  of  the  quoit  hurlers 
in  turn  seems  very  great,  but  we  cannot  delay  to  await  the 

1  If  the  data  of  the  ancients  are  to  be  believed,  the  Greeks  achieved 
records  in  leaping  far  beyond  those  of  any  modern  athletes,  but  it  is 
impossible  to  rely  on  data  of  this  kind. 

2  The  quotation  is  from  Lucian  (Roman  Imperial  period). 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia       169 

issue.  Still  elsewhere  in  the  Academy  they  are  hurling  the 
javelin.  Here  is  a  real  martial  exercise,  and  patriotism  as 
well  as  the  natural  athletic  spirit  urges  young  men  to  excel. 
The  long  light  lances  are  being  whirled  at  a  distant  target 
with  remarkable  accuracy ;  and  well  they  may,  for  every 
contestant  has  the  vision  of  some  hour  when  he  may  stand 
on  the  poop  of  a  trireme  and  hear  the  dread  call,  "All  hands 
repel  boarders,"  or  need  all  his  darts  to  break  up  the  rush 
of  a  pursuing  band  of  hoplites. 

151.  Wrestling. — The  real  crowds,  however,  are  around 
the  wrestlers  and  the  racers.  Wrestling  in  its  less  brutal 
form  is  in  great  favor.  It  brings  into  play  all  the  muscles 
of  a  man;  it  tests  his  resources  both  of  mind  and  body 
finely.  It  is  excellent  for  a  youth  and  it  fights  away  old 
age.  The  Greek  language  is  full  of  words  and  allusions 
taken  from  the  wrestler's  art.  The  palaestras  for  the  boys 
are  called  "  the  wrestling  school  "  par  excellence.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  now  the  ring  on  the  sands  is  a  dense  one  and 
constantly  growing.  Two  skilful  amateurs  will  wrestle. 
One  —  a  speedy  rumor  tells  us  —  is,  earlier  and  later  in  the 
day,  a  rising  comic  poet ;  the  other  is  not  infrequently  heard 
on  the  Bema.  Just  at  present,  however,  they  have  forgot- 
ten anapests  and  oratory.  A  crowd  of  cheering,  jesting 
friends  thrusts  them  on.  Forth  they  stand,  two  handsome, 
powerful  men,  well  oiled  for  suppleness,  but  also  sprinkled 
with  fine  sand  to  make  it  possible  to  get  a  fair  grip  in  the 
contest. 

For  a  moment  they  wag  their  sharp  black  beards  at  each 
other  defiantly,  and  poise  and  edge  around.  Then  the  poet, 
more  daring,  rushes  in,  and  instantly  the  two  have  grappled 
—  each  clutching  the  other's  left  wrist  with  his  right  hand. 
The  struggle  that  follows  is  hot  and  even,  until  a  lucky 
thrust  from  the  orator's  foot  lands  the  poet  in  a  sprawling 
heap ;  whence  he  rises  with  a  ferocious  grin  and  renews  the 


170  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

contest.  The  second  time  they  both  fall  together.  "A 
tie ! "  calls  the  long-gowned  friend  who  acts  as  umpire,  with 
an  officious  flourish  of  his  cane. 

The  third  time  the  poet  catches  the  orator  trickily  under 
the  thigh,  and  fairly  tears  him  off  the  ground ;  but  at  the 
fourth  meeting  the  orator  slips  his  arm  in  decisive  grip 
about  his  opponent's  waist  and  with  a  mighty  wrench  up- 
sets him. 

"  Two  casts  out  of  three,  and  victory ! " 

Everybody  laughs  good-naturedly.  The  poet  and  the 
orator  go  away  arm  in  arm  to  the  bathing  house,  there  to 
have  another  good  oiling  and  rubbing  down  by  their  slaves, 
after  removing  the  heavily  caked  sand  from  their  skin  with 
the  strigils.  Of  course,  had  it  been  a  real  contest  in  the 
"  greater  games,"  the  outcome  might  have  been  more  serious ; 
for  the  rules  allow  one  to  twist  a  wrist,  to  thrust  an  arm  or 
foot  into  the  foeman's  belly,  or  (when  things  are  desperate) 
to  dash  your  forehead  —  bull  fashion  —  against  your  oppo- 
nent's brow,  in  the  hope  that  his  skull  will  prove  weaker 
than  yours. 

152.  Foot  Races.  —  The  continued  noise  from  the  stadium 
indicates  that  the  races  are  still  running ;  and  we  find  time 
to  go  thither.  The  simple  running  match,  a  straight- 
away dash  of  600  feet,  seems  to  have  been  the  original  con- 
test at  the  Olympic  games  ere  these  were  developed  into  a 
famous  and  complicated  festival;  and  the  runner  still  is 
counted  among  the  favorites  of  Greek  athletics.  As  we  sit 
upon  the  convenient  benches  around  the  academy  stadium 
we  see  at  once  that  the  track  is  far  from  being  a  hard,  well- 
rolled  "  cinder  path  " ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  of  soft  sand 
into  which  the  naked  foot  sinks  if  planted  too  firmly,  and 
upon  it  the  most  adept  "  hard-track  "  runner  would  at  first 
pant  and  flounder  helplessly.  The  Greeks  have  several 
kinds  of  foot  races,  but  none  that  are  very  short.  The 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia        171 

shortest  is  the  simple  stadium  (600  feet),  a  straight  hard 
dash  down  one  side  of  the  long  oval ;  then  there  is  the 
"double  course"  (diaulos)  down  one  side  and  back;  the 
"horse  race" — twice  clear  around  (2400  feet)  ;  and  lastly 
the  hard-testing  "long  course"  (dolichos)  which  may  vary 
in  length  according  to  arrangement,  —  seven,  twelve,  twenty, 


THE  RACE  IN  ARMOR. 

or  even  twenty-four  stadia,  we  are  told ;  and  it  is  the  last 
(about  three  miles)  that  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  contests 
at  Olympia. 

At  this  moment  a  party  of  four  hale  and  hearty  men  still 
in  the  young  prime  are  about  to  compete  in  the  "double 
race."  They  come  forward  all  rubbed  with  the  glistening 
oil,  and  crouch  at  the  starting  point  behind  the  red  cord 
held  by  two  attendants.  The  gymnasiarch  stands  watch- 
fully by,  swinging  his  cane  to  smite  painfully  whoever,  in 
over  eagerness,  breaks  away  before  the  signal.  All  is 
ready;  at  his  nod  the  rope  falls.  The  four  fly  away  to- 
gether, pressing  their  elbows  close  to  their  sides,  and  going 
over  the  soft  sands  with  long  rhythmic  leaps,  rather  than 
with  the  usual  rapid  running  motion.  A  fierce  race  it  is, 
amid  much  exhortation  from  friends  and  shouting.  At 
length,  as  so  often, — when  speeding  back  towards  the 


172  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

stretched  cord,  —  the  rearmost  runner  suddenly  gathers 
amazing  speed,  and,  flying  with  prodigious  leaps  ahead  of 
his  rivals,  is  easily  the  victor.  His  friends  are  at  once 
about  him,  and  we  hear  the  busy  tongues  advising,  "You 
must  surely  race  at  the  Py thia ;  the  Oly mpia ;  etc." 

This  simple  race  over,  a  second  quickly  follows:  five 
heavy,  powerful  men  this  time,  but  they  are  to  run  in  full 
hoplite's  armor  —  the  ponderous  shield,  helmet,  cuirass,  and 
greaves.  This  is  the  exacting  "Armor  Race"  (Hoplito- 
dromos),  and  safe  only  for  experienced  soldiers  or  profes- 
sional athletes.1  Indeed,  the  Greeks  take  all  their  foot 
races  very  seriously,  and  there  are  plenty  of  instances 
when  the  victor  has  sped  up  to  the  goal,  and  then  dropped 
dead  before  the  applauding  stadium.  There  are  no  stop 
watches  in  the  Academy;  we  do  not  know  the  records  of 
the  present  or  of  more  famous  runners;  yet  one  may  be 
certain  that  the  "time"  made,  considering  the  very  soft 
sand,  has  been  exceedingly  fast. 

153.  The  Pentathlon :  the  Honors  paid  to  Great  Athletes.  — 
We  have  now  seen  average  specimens  of  all  the  usual 
athletic  sports  of  the  Greeks.  Any  good  authority  will 
tell  us,  however,  that  a  truly  capable  athlete  will  not  try 
to  specialize  so  much  in  any  one  kind  of  contest  that  he 
cannot  do  justice  to  the  others.  As  an  all  around  well- 
trained  man  he  will  try  to  excel  in  the  Pentathlon,  the 
"  five  contests."  Herein  he  will  successfully  join  in  run- 
ning, javelin  casting,  quoit  throwing,  leaping,  and  wrest- 
ling.2 As  the  contest  proceeds  the  weaker  athletes  will  be 

1  It  was  training  in  races  like  these  which  enabled  the  Athenians  at 
Marathon  to  "charge  the  Persians  on  the  run"  (Miltiades*  orders),  all 
armored  though  they  were,  and  so  get  quickly  through  the  terrible  zone 
of  the  Persian  arrow  fire. 

2  The  exact  order  of  these  contests,  and  the  rules  of  elimination  as  the 
games  proceeded,  are  uncertain  —  perhaps  they  varied  with  time  and 
place. 


The  Afternoon  at  the  Gymnasia        173 

eliminated;  only  the  two  fittest  will  be  left  for  the  final 
trial  of  strength  and  skill.  Fortunate  indeed  is  "he  who 
overcometh  "  in  the  Pentathlon.  It  is  the  crown  of  athletic 
victories,  involving,  as  it  does,  no  scanty  prowess  both  of 
body  and  mind.  The  victor  in  the  Pentathlon  at  one  of 
the  great  Pan-Hellenic  games  (Olympian,  Pythian,  Isthmian, 
or  Nemean)  or  even  in  the  local  Attic  contest  at  the  Pan- 
athenaea  is  a  marked  man  around  Athens  or  any  other  Greek 
city.  Poets  celebrate  him;  youths  dog  his  heels  and  try  to 
imitate  him;  his  kinsfolk  take  on  airs;  very  likely  he  is 
rewarded  as  a  public  benefactor  by  the  government.  But 
there  is  abundant  honor  for  one  who  has  triumphed  in  any 
of  the  great  contests ;  and  even  as  we  go  out  we  see  people 
pointing  to  a  bent  old  man  and  saying,  "  Yes ;  he  won  the 
quoit  hurling  at  the  Nernea  when  Ithycles  was  archon."1 
.  .  .  The  Academy  is  already  thinning.  The  beautiful 
youths  and  their  admiring  "  lovers  "  have  gone  homeward. 
The  last  race  has  been  run.  We  must  hasten  if  we  would 
not  be  late  to  some  select  symposium.  The  birds  are  more 
melodious  than  ever  around  Colonus;  the  red  and  golden 
glow  upon  the  Acropolis  is  beginning  to  fade;  the  night  is 
sowing  the  stars;  and  through  the  light  air  of  a  glorious 
evening  we  speed  back  to  the  city. 

iThis  would  make  it  398  B.C.    The  Athenians  dated  their  year  by  the 
name  of  their  "  first  Archon  "  (Archon  eponymos). 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
ATHENIAN  COOKERY  AND  THE  SYMPOSIUM. 

154.  Greek  Meal  Times.  —  The  streets  are  becoming  empty. 
The  Agora  has  been  deserted  for  hours.  As  the  warm  balmy 
night  closes  over  the  city  the  house  doors  are  shut  fast,  to 
open  only  for  the  returning  master  or  his  guests,  bidden 
to  dinner.  Soon  the  ways  will  be  almost  silent,  to  be  dis- 
turbed, after  a  proper  interval,  by  the  dinner  guests  return- 
ing homeward.  Save  for  these,  the  streets  will  seem  those 
of  a  city  of  the  dead :  patrolled  at  rare  intervals  by  the 
Scythian  archers,  and  also  ranged  now  and  then  by  cutpurses 
watching  for  an  unwary  stroller,  or  miscreant  roisterers 
trolling  lewd  songs,  and  pounding  on  honest  men's  doors  as 
they  wander  from  tavern  to  tavern  in  search  of  the  lowest 
possible  pleasures. 

We  have  said  very  little  of  eating  or  drinking  during  our 
visit  in  Athens,  for,  truth  to  tell,  the  citizens  try  to  get 
through  the  day  with  about  as  little  interruption  for  food 
and  drink  as  possible.  But  now,  when  warehouse  and  gym- 
nasium alike  are  left  to  darkness,  all  Athens  will  break  its 
day  of  comparative  fasting. 

Roughly  speaking,  the  Greeks  anticipate  the  latter-day 
"  Continental "  habits  in  their  meal  hours.  The  custom  of 
Germans  and  of  many  Americans  in  having  the  heartiest 
meal  at  noonday  would  never  appeal  to  them.  The  hearty 
meal  is  at  night,  and  no  one  dreams  of  doing  any  serious 
work  after  it.  When  it  is  finished,  there  may  be  pleasant 
discourse  or  varied  amusements,  but  never  real  business; 
174 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium     175 

and  even  if  there  are  guests,  the  average  dinner  party  breaks 
up  early.  Early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise,  would  be  a  maxim 
indorsed  by  the  Athenians. 

Promptly  upon  rising,  our  good  citizen  has  devoured  a 
few  morsels  of  bread  sopped  in  undiluted  wine;  that  has 
been  to  him  what  "  coffee  and  rolls  "  will  be  to  the  French- 
man, —  enough  to  carry  him  through  the  morning  business, 
until  near  to  noon  he  will  demand  something  more  satisfy- 
ing. He  then  visits  home  long  enough  to  partake  of  a 
substantial  dejeuner  (ariston,  first  breakfast  =  akratismd). 
He  has  one  or  two  hot  dishes  —  one  may  suspect  usually 
warmed  over  from  last  night's  dinner — and  partakes  of  some 
more  wine.  This  ariston  will  be  about  all  he  will  require 
until  the  chief  meal  of  the  day — the  regular  dinner  (delpnori) 
which  would  follow  sunset. 

155.  Society  desired  at  Meals.  — The  Athenians  are  a  gre- 
garious sociable  folk.  Often  enough  the  citizen  must  dine 
alone  at  home  with  "  only  "  his  wife  and  children  for  com- 
pany, but  if  possible  he  will  invite  friends  (or  get  himself 
invited  out).  Any  sort  of  an  occasion  is  enough  to  excuse 
a  dinner-party,  —  a  birthday  of  some  friend,  some  kind  of 
family  happiness,  a  victory  in  the  games,  the  return  from, 
or  the  departure  upon,  a  journey: — all  these  will  answer; 
or  indeed  a  mere  love  of  good  fellowship.  There  are  in- 
numerable little  eating  clubs ;  the  members  go  by  rotation 
to  their  respective  houses.  Each  member  contributes  either 
some  money  or  has  his  slave  bring  a  hamper  of  provisions. 
In  the  fine  weather  picnic  parties  down  upon  the  shore  are 
common.1  "Anything  to  bring  friends  together"  —  in  the 
morning  the  Agora,  in  the  afternoon  the  gymnasium,  in  the 
evening  the  symposium  —  that  seems  to  be  the  rule  of 
Athenian  life. 

1  Such  excursions  were  so  usual  that  the  literal  expression  "  Let  us 
banquet  at  the  shore  "  (o"/i/*epov  dKTdoru/jxv)  came  often  to  mean  simply 
"Let  us  have  a  good  time." 


176  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

However,  the  Athenians  seldom  gather  to  eat  for  the  mere 
sake  of  animal  gorging.  They  have  progressed  since  the 
Greeks  of  the  Homeric  Age.  Odysseus *  is  made  to  say  to 
Alcinotis  that  there  is  nothing  more  delightful  than  sitting 
at  a  table  covered  with  bread,  meat,  and  wine,  and  listening 
to  a  bard's  song ;  and  both  Homeric  poems  show  plenty  of 
gross  devouring  and  guzzling.  There  is  not  much  of  this 
in  Athens,  although  Boeotians  are  still  reproached  with  be- 
ing voracious,  swinish  "flesh  eaters,"  and  the  Greeks  of 
South  Italy  and  Sicily  are  considered  as  devoted  to  their 
fare,  though  of  more  refined  table  habits.  Athenians  of  the 
better  class  pride  themselves  on  their  light  diet  and  mod- 
eration of  appetite,  and  their  neighbors  make  considerable 
fun  of  them  for  their  failure  to  serve  satisfying  meals. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  typical  Athenian  would  regard  a 
twentieth  century  table  d'hdte  course  dinner  as  heavy  and 
unrefined,  if  ever  it  dragged  its  slow  length  before  him. 

156.  The  Staple  Articles  of  Food. — However,  the  Athe- 
nians have  honest  appetites,  and  due  means  of  silencing 
them.  The  diet  of  a  poor  man  is  indeed  simple  in  the 
extreme.  According  to  Aristophanes  his  meal  consists  of 
a  cake,  bristling  with  bran  for  the  sake  of  economy,  along 
with  an  onion  and  a  dish  of  sow  thistles,  or  of  mushrooms, 
or  some  other  such  wretched  vegetables ;  and  probably,  in 
fact,  that  is  about  all  three  fourths  of  the  population  of 
Attica  will  get  on  ordinary  working  days,  always  with  the 
addition  of  a  certain  indispensable  supply  of  oil  and  wine. 

Bread,  oil,  and  wine,  in  short,  are  the  three  fundamentals 
of  Greek  diet.  With  them  alone  man  can  live  very  health- 
fully and  happily;  without  them  elaborate  vegetable  and 
meat  dishes  are  poor  substitutes.  Like  latter-day  French- 
men or  Italians  with  their  huge  loaves  or  macaroni,  bread 
in  one  form  or  another  is  literally  the  staff  of  life  to  the 

1  Odyssey,  IX.  5-10. 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium     177 

Greek.  He  makes  it  of  wheat,  barley,  rye,  millet,  or  spelt, 
but  preferably  of  the  two  named  first.  As  a  rule  the  wheat 
flour  alone  is  baked  up  into  loaves.  The  barley  meal  is 
kneaded  (not  baked)  and  eaten  raw  or  half  raw  as  a  sort  of 
porridge.  Of  wheat  loaves  there  are  innumerable  shapes  on 
sale  in  the  Agora,  —  slender  rolls,  convenient  loaves,  and 
also  huge  loaves  needing  two  or  three  bushels  of  flour, 
exceeding  even  those  made  in  a  later  day  in  Normandy. 
At  every  meal  the  amount  of  bread  or  porridge  consumed 
is  enormous ;  there  is  really  little  else  at  all  substantial. 
Persian  visitors  to  the  Greeks  complain  that  they  are  in 
danger  of  rising  from  the  table  hungry. 

But  along  with  the  inevitable  bread  goes  the  inevitable 
olive  oil.  No  latter-day  article  will  exactly  correspond  to  it. 
First  of  all  it  takes  the  place  of  butter  as  the  proper  condi- 
ment to  prevent  the  bread  from  being  tasteless.1  It  enters 
into  every  dish.  The  most  versatile  cook  will  be  lost  with- 
out it.  Again,  at  the  gymnasium  we  have  seen  its  great 
importance  to  the  athletes  and  bathers.  It  is  therefore  the 
Hellenic  substitute  for  soap.  Lastly,  it  fills  the  lamps  which 
swing  over  every  dining  board.  It  takes  the  place  of 
electricity,  gas,  or  petroleum.  No  wonder  Athens  is  proud 
of  her  olive  trees.  If  she  has  to  import  her  grain,  she  has 
a  surplus  for  export  of  one  of  the  three  great  essentials  of 
Grecian  life. 

The  third  inevitable  article  of  diet  is  wine.  No  one  has 
dreamed  of  questioning  its  vast  desirability  under  almost  all 
circumstances.  Even  drunkenness  is  not  always  improper. 
It  may  be  highly  fitting,  as  putting  one  in  a  "  divine  frenzy," 
partaking  of  the  nature  of  the  gods.  Musseus  the  semi- 
mythical  poet  is  made  out  to  teach  that  the  reward  of  virtue 
will  be  something  like  perpetual  intoxication  in  the  next 

i  There  was  extremely  little  cow's  butter  in  Greece.  Herodotus  (iv.  2) 
found  it  necessary  to  explain  the  process  of  "  cow-cheese-making  "  among 
the  Scythians. 


178  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

world.  ^Eschines  the  orator  will,  ere  long,  taunt  his  oppo- 
nent Demosthenes  in  public  with  being  a  "  water  drinker  " ; 
and  Socrates  on  many  occasions  has  given  proof  that  he 
possessed  a  very  hard  head.  Yet  naturally  the  Athenian 
has  too  acute  a  sense  of  things  fit  and  dignified,  too  noble 
a  perception  of  the  natural  harmony,  to  commend  drunken- 
ness on  any  but  rare  occasions.  Wine  is  rather  valued  as 
imparting  a  happy  moderate  glow,  making  the  thoughts 
come  faster,  and  the  tongue  more  witty.  Wine  raises  the 
spirits  of  youth,  and  makes  old  age  forget  its  gray  hairs. 
It  chases  away  thoughts  of  the  dread  hereafter,  when  one 
will  lose  consciousness  of  the  beautiful  sun,  and  perhaps 
wander  a  " strengthless  shade"  through  the  dreary  under- 
world. 

There  is  a  song  attributed  to  Anacreon,  and  nearly 
everybody  in  Athens  approves  the  sentiment :  — 

Thirsty  earth  drinks  up  the  rain, 
Trees  from  earth  drink  that  again  ; 
Ocean  drinks  the  air,  the  sun 
Drinks  the  sea,  and  him,  the  moon. 
Any  reason,  canst  thou  think, 
I  should  thirst  while  all  these  drink?1 

157.  Greek  Vintages.  —  All  Greeks,  however,  drink  their 
wine  so  diluted  with  water  that  it  takes  a  decided  quantity 
to  produce  a  "  reaction."  The  average  drinker  takes  three 
parts  water  to  two  of  wine;  if  he  is  a  little  reckless  the 
ratio  is  four  of  water  to  three  of  wine ;  equal  parts  "  make 
men  mad"  as  the  poet  says,  and  are  probably  reserved  for 
very  wild  dinner  parties.  As  for  drinking  pure  wine  no 
one  dreams  of  the  thing  —  it  is  a  practice  fit  for  Barbarians. 
There  is  good  reason,  however,  for  this  plentiful  use  of 
water.  In  their  original  state  Greek  wines  were  very 
strong,  perhaps  almost  as  alcoholic  as  whisky,  and  the 

1  Translation  from  Von  Falke's  Greece  and  Rome. 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium     179 

Athenians  have  no  Scotch  climate  to  excuse  the  use  of  such 
stimulants.1 

No  wine  served  in  Athens,  however,  will  appeal  to  a  later- 
day  connoisseur.  It  is  all  mixed  with  resin,  which  perhaps 
makes  it  more  wholesome,  but  to  enjoy  it  then  becomes  an 
acquired  taste.  There  are  any  number  of  choice  vintages, 
and  you  will  be  told  that  the  local  Attic  wine  is  not  very 
desirable,  although  of  course  it  is  the  cheapest.  Black  wine 
is  the  strongest  and  sweetest;  white  wine  is  the  weakest; 
rich  golden  is  the  driest  and  most  wholesome.  The  rocky 
isles  and  headlands  of  the  ^gean  seem  to  produce  the  best 
vintage — Thasos,  Cos,  Lesbos,  Rhodes,  all  boast  their  grapes ; 
but  the  best  wine  beyond  a  doubt  is  from  Chios.2  It  will 
fetch  a  inina  ($18)  the  "metreta,"  i.e.  nearly  50  cents  per 
quart.  At  this  same  time  you  can  buy  a  "metreta"  of 
common  Attic  wine  for  four  drachmae  (72  cents),  or  say  two 
cents  per  quart.  The  latter  —  when  one  considers  the  dilu- 
tion —  is  surely  cheap  enough  for  the  most  humble. 

158.  Vegetable  Dishes. — Provided  with  bread,  oil,  and  wine, 
no  Athenian  will  long  go  hungry ;  but  naturally  these  are 
not  a  whole  feast.  As  season  and  purse  may  afford  they 
will  be  supplanted  by  such  vegetables  as  beans  (a  staple 
article),  peas,  garlic,  onions,  radishes,  turnips,  and  asparagus  ; 
also  with  an  abundance  of  fruits, — besides  figs  (almost  a 
fourth  indispensable  at  most  meals),  apples,  quinces,  peaches, 

1  There  was  a  wide  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  amount  of 
dilution.    Odysseus  (Odyssey,  IX.  209)  mixed  his  fabulously  strong  wine 
from  Maron  in  Thrace  with  twenty  times  its  bulk  of  water.    Hesiod  abste- 
miously commended  three  parts  of  water  to  one  of  wine.    Zaleucus,  the 
lawgiver  of  Italian  Locri,  established  the  death  penalty  for  drinking  un- 
mixed wine  save  by  physicians'  orders  (Athenseus,  X.  33). 

2  Naturally  certain  foreign  vintages  had  a  demand,  just  because  they 
were  foreign.    Wine  was  imported  from  Egypt  and  from  various  parts  of 
Italy.    It  was  sometimes  mixed  with  sea  water  for  export,  or  was  made 
aromatic  with  various  herbs  and  berries.    It  was  ordinarily  preserved  in 
great  earthern  jars  sealed  with  pitch. 


180  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

pears,  plums,  cherries,  blackberries,  the  various  familiar  nuts, 
and  of  course  a  plenty  of  grapes  and  olives.  The  range  of 
selection  is  in  fact  decidedly  wide :  only  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury visitor  will  miss  the  potato,  the  lemon,  and  the 
orange;  and  when  he  pries  into  the  mysteries  of  the 
kitchen  a  great  fact  at  once  stares  him  in  the  face.  The 
Greek  must  dress  his  dishes  without  the  aid  of  sugar.  As 
a  substitute  there  is  an  abundant  use  of  the  delicious  Hy- 
mettus  honey,  —  "fragrant  with  the  bees," — but  it  is  by  no 
means  so  full  of  possibilities  as  the  white  powder  of  later 
days.  Also  the  Greek  cook  is  usually  without  fresh  cow's 
milk,  and  most  goat's  milk  probably  takes  its  way  to  cheese. 
No  morning  milk  carts  rattle  over  the  stones  of  Athens. 

159.  Meat  and  Fish  Dishes.  —  Turning  to  the  meat  dishes, 
we  at  once  learn  that  while  there  is  a  fair  amount  of  farm 
poultry,  geese,  hares,  doves,  partridges,  etc.,  on  sale  in  the  mar- 
ket, there  is  extremely  little  fresh  beef  or  even  mutton,  pork, 
and  goat's  flesh.  It  is  quite  expensive,  and  counted  too  hearty 
for  refined  diners.  The  average  poor  man  in  fact  hardly 
tastes  flesh  except  after  one  of  the  great  public  festivals; 
then  after  the  sacrifice  of  the  "hecatomb"  of  oxen,  there 
will  probably  be  a  distribution  of  roast  meat  to  all  the  wor- 
shipers, and  the  honest  citizen  will  take  home  to  his  wife  an 
uncommon  luxury  —  a  piece  of  roast  beef.  But  the  place 
of  beef  and  pork  is  largely  usurped  by  most  excellent  fish. 
The  waters  of  the  JSgean  abound  with  fish.  The  import  of 
salt  fish  (for  the  use  of  the  poor)  from  the  Propontis  and 
Euxine  is  a  great  part  of  Attic  commerce.  A  large  part 
of  the  business  at  the  Agora  centers  around  the  fresh 
fish  stalls,  and  we  have  seen  how  extortionate  and  insolent 
were  the  fishmongers.  Sole,  tunny,  mackerel,  young  shark, 
mullet,  turbot,  carp,  halibut,  are  to  be  had,  but  the  choicest 
regular  delicacies  are  the  great  Copaic  eels  from  Boeotia; 
these,  "  roasted  on  the  coals  and  wrapped  in  beet  leaves," 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium    181 

are  a  dish  fit  for  the  Great  King.  Lucky  is  the  host  who 
has  them  for  his  dinner  party.  Oysters  and  mussels  too 
are  in  demand,  and  there  is  a  considerable  sale  of  snails, 
"  the  poor  man's  salad,"  even  as  in  present-day  France. 

Clearly,  then,  if  one  is  not  captious  or  gluttonous,  there 
should  be  no  lack  of  good  eating  in  Athens,  despite  the 
reputation  of  the  city  for  abstemiousness.  Let  us  pry 
therefore  into  the  symposium  of  some  good  citizen  who  is 
dispensing  hospitality  to-night. 

160.    Inviting  Guests  to  a  Dinner  Party.  — 

Who  loves  thee,  him  summon  to  thy  board; 
Far  off  be  he  who  hates. 

This  familiar  sentiment  of  Hesiod,  one  Prodicus,  a  well-to-do 
gentleman,  had  in  mind  when  he  went  to  the  Agora  this 
morning  to  arrange  for  a  dinner  party  in  honor  of  his  friend 
Hermogenes,  who  was  just  departing  on  a  diplomatic  mission 
to  the  satrap  of  Mysia.  While  walking  along  the  Painted 
Porch  and  the  other  colonnades  he  had  no  difficulty  in 
seeing  most  of  the  group  he  intended  to  invite,  and  if  they 
did  not  turn  to  greet  him,  he  would  halt  them  by  sending 
his  slave  boy  to  run  and  twitch  at  their  mantles,  after  which 
the  invitation  was  given  verbally.  Prodicus,  however,  de- 
liberately makes  arrangements  for  one  or  two  more  than 
those  he  has  bidden.  It  will  be  entirely  proper  for  his 
guests  to  bring  friends  of  their  own  if  they  wish ;  and  very 
likely  some  intimate  whom  he  has  been  unable  to  find  will 
invite  himself  without  any  bidding. 

At  the  Agora  Prodicus  has  had  much  to  do.  His  house 
is  a  fairly  large  and  well-furnished  one,  his  slaves  numerous 
and  handy,  but  he  has  not  the  cook  or  the  equipment  for  a 
really  elaborate  symposium.  At  a  certain  quarter  on  the 
great  square  he  finds  a  contractor  who  will  supply  all  the 
extra  appointments  for  a  handsome  dinner  party  —  tables,  ex- 
tra lamps,  etc.  Then  he  puts  his  slave  boy  to  bawling  out : 


182  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

"Who  wants  an  engagement  to  cook  a  dinner?" 
This  promptly  brings  forward  a  sleek,  well-dressed  fellow 
whose  dialect  declares  that  he  is  from  Sicily,  and  who 
asserts  he  is  an  expert  professional  cook.  Prodicus  engages 
him  and  has  a  conference  with  him  on  the  profound  ques- 
tion of  "  whether  the  tunnies  or  the  mullets  are  better 
to-day,  or  will  there  be  fresh  eels  ?  "  This  point  and  similar 
minor  matters  settled,  Prodicus  makes  liberal  purchases  at 
the  fish  and  vegetable  stalls,  and  his  slaves  bear  his  trophies 
homeward. 

161.   Preparing  for  the  Dinner.     The  Sicilian  Cook.  —  All 

that  afternoon  the  home  of  Prodicus  is  in  an  uproar.  The 
score  of  slaves  show  a  frantic  energy.  The  aula  is  cleaned 
and  scrubbed:  the  serving  girls  are  busy  hanging  festoons 
of  leaves  and  weaving  chaplets.  The  master's  wife  —  who 
does  not  dream  of  actually  sharing  in  the  banquet  —  is 
nevertheless  as  active  and  helpful  as  possible;  but  es- 
pecially she  is  busy  trying  to  keep  the  peace  between  the 
old  house  servants  and  the  imported  cook.  This  Sicilian 
is  a  notable  character.  To  him  cookery  is  not  a  handi- 
craft :  it  is  the  triumph,  the  quintessence  of  all  science  and 
philosophy.  He  talks  a  strange  professional  jargon,  and 
asserts  that  he  is  himself  learned  in  astronomy  —  for  that 
teaches  the  best  seasons,  e.g.  for  mackerel  and  haddock ;  in 
geometry,  —  that  he  might  know  how  a  boiler  or  gridiron 
should  be  set  to  the  best  advantage ;  in  medicine,  that  he 
might  prepare  the  most  wholesome  dishes.  In  any  case  he 
is  a  perfect  tyrant  around  the  kitchen,  grumbling  about  the 
utensils,  cuffing  the  spit-boy,  and  ever  bidding  him  bring 
more  charcoal  for  the  fire  and  to  blow  the  bellows  faster.1 
By  the  time  evening  is  at  hand  Prodicus  and  his  house 

1  The  Greeks  seem  to  have  cooked  over  a  rather  simple  open  fire- 
place with  a  wood  or  charcoal  fire.  They  had  an  array  of  cooking 
utensils,  however,  according  to  all  our  evidence,  elaborate  enough  to 
gladden  a  very  exacting  modern  chef. 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium    183 

are  in  perfect  readiness.  The  bustle  is  ended;  and  the 
master  stands  by  the  entrance  way,  clad  in  his  best  and 
with  a  fresh  myrtle  wreath,  ready  to  greet  his  guests.  No 
ladies  will  be  among  these.  Had  there  been  any  women 
invited  to  the  banquet,  they  would  surely  be  creatures  of  no 
very  honest  sort ;  and  hardly  fit,  under  any  circumstances, 
to  darken  the  door  of  a  respectable  citizen.  The  mistress 
and  her  maids  are  "  behind  the  scenes."  There  may  be  a 
woman  among  the  hired  entertainers  provided,  but  for  a  re- 
fined Athenian  lady  to  appear  at  an  ordinary  symposium  is 
almost  unthinkable.1 

162.  The  Coming  of  the  Guests.  —  As  each  guest  comes,  he 
is  seen  to  be  elegantly  dressed,  and  to  wear  now,  if  at  no 
other  time,  a  handsome  pair  of  sandals.2  He  has  also  taken 
pains  to  bathe  and  to  perfume  himself.  As  soon  as  each 
person  arrives  his  sandals  are  removed  in  the  vestibule  by 
the  slaves  and  his  feet  are  bathed.  No  guest  comes  alone, 
however:  every  one  has  his  own  body  servant  with  him, 
who  will  look  after  his  footgear  and  himation  during  the 
dinner,  and  give  a  certain  help  with  the  serving.  The 
house  therefore  becomes  full  of  people,  and  will  be  the  scene 
of  remarkable  animation  during  the  next  few  hours. 

Prodicus  is  not  disappointed  in  expecting  some  extra 
visitors.  His  guest  of  honor,  Hermogenes,  has  brought  along 
two,  whom  the  host  greets  with  the  polite  lie :  "  Just  in  time 
for  dinner.  Put  off  your  other  business.  I  was  looking  for 
you  in  the  Agora  and  could  not  find  you."3  Also  there 
thrusts  in  a  half  genteel,  half  rascally  fellow,  one  Palladas, 

iln  marriage  parties  and  other  strictly  family  affairs  women  were 
allowed  to  take  part;  and  we  have  an  amusing  fragment  of  Menander  as 
to  how,  on  such  rare  occasions,  they  monopolized  the  conversation. 

2  Socrates,  by  way  of  exception  to  his  custom,  put  on  some  fine  sandals 
•when  he  was  invited  to  a  banquet. 

« It  is  with  such  a  white  fib  that  the  host  Agathon  salutes  Aristodemus, 
Socrates's  companion,  in  Plato's  Symposium. 


184  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

who  spends  all  his  evenings  at  dinner  parties,  being  willing 
to  be  the  common  butt  and  jest  of  the  company  (having 
indeed  something  of  the  ability  of  a  comic  actor  about  him) 
in  return  for  a  share  of  the  good  things  on  the  table.  These 
"  Parasites  "  are  regular  characters  in  Athens,  and  no  sym- 
posium is  really  complete  without  them,  although  often  their 
fooleries  cease  to  be  amusing.1 

163.  The  Dinner  Proper.  —  The  Greeks  have  not  antici- 
pated the  Romans  in  their  custom  of  making  the  standard 
dinner  party  nine  persons  on  three  couches,  —  three  guests 
on  each.  Prodicus  has  about  a  dozen  guests,  two  on  a  couch. 
They  "  lie  down "  more  or  less  side  by  side  upon  the 
cushioned  divans,  with  their  right  arms  resting  on  brightly 
striped  pillows  and  the  left  arms  free  for  eating.  The 
slaves  bring  basins  of  water  to  wash  their  hands,  and  then 
beside  each  couch  is  set  a  small  table,  already  garnished 
with  the  first  course,  and  after  the  casting  of  a  few  bits  of 
food  upon  the  family  hearth  fire,  —  the  conventional  "  sacri- 
fice "  to  the  house  gods,  —  the  dinner  begins. 

Despite  the  elaborate  preparations  of  the  Sicilian  cook, 
Prodicus  offers  his  guests  only  two  courses.  The  first  con- 
sists of  the  substantial  dishes  —  the  fish,  the  vegetables,  the 
meat  (if  there  is  any).  Soups  are  not  unknown,  and  had 
they  been  served  might  have  been  eaten  with  spoons ;  but 
Athens  like  all  the  world  is  innocent  of  forks,  and  fingers 
take  their  place.  Each  guest  has  a  large  piece  of  soft  bread 
on  which  he  wipes  his  fingers  from  time  to  time  and  presently 

1Ol  these  "  Parasites"  or  "Flies"  (as  owing  to  their  migratory  habits 
they  were  sometimes  called),  countless  stories  were  told,  whereof  the 
following  is  a  sample :  There  was  once  a  law  in  Athens  that  not  over 
thirty  guests  were  to  be  admitted  to  a  marriage  feast,  and  an  officer  was 
obliged  to  count  all  the  guests  and  exclude  the  superfluous.  A  "fly" 
thrust  in  on  one  occasion,  and  the  officer  said :  "  Friend,  you  must  retire.  I 
find  one  more  here  than  the  law  allows."  "  Dear  fellow,"  quoth  the  "  fly," 
"  you  are  utterly  mistaken,  as  you  will  find,  if  you  will  kindly  count 
again  —  only  beginning  with  me." 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium    185 

casts  it  upon  the  floor.1  When  this  first  course  is  finished, 
the  tables  are  all  taken  out  to  be  reset,  water  is  again  poured 
over  the  hands  of  the  guests,  and  garlands  of  flowers  are 
passed.  The  use  of  garlands  is  universal,  and  among  the 
guests,  old  white  headed  and  bearded  Sosthenes  will  find 
nothing  more  undignified  in  putting  himself  beneath  a  huge 
wreath  of  lilies  than  an  elderly  gentleman  of  a  later  day 
will  find  in  donning  the  "conventional"  dress  suit.  The 
conversation,  —  which  was  very  scattering  at  first,  —  becomes 
more  animated.  A  little  wine  is  now  passed  about.  Then 
back  come  the  tables  with  the  second  course  —  fruits,  and 
various  sweetmeats  and  confectionery  with  honey  as  the 
staple  flavoring.  Before  this  disappears  a  goblet  of  unmixed 
wine  is  passed  about,  and  everybody  takes  a  sip :  "  To  the 
Good  Genius,"  they  say  as  the  cup  goes  round. 

164.  Beginning  the  Symposium.  —  Prodicus  at  length  gives 
a  nod  to  the  chief  of  his  corps  of  servers. 

"  Bring  in  the  wine ! "  he  orders.  The  slaves  promptly 
whisk  out  the  tables  and  replace  them  with  others  still 
smaller,  on  which  they  set  all  kinds  of  gracefully  shaped 
beakers  and  drinking  bowls.  More  wreaths  are  distributed, 
also  little  bottles  of  delicate  ointment.  While  the  guests  are 
praising  Prodicus's  nard,  the  servants  have  brought  in  three 
huge  "  mixing  bowls  "  (craters)  for  the  wines  which  are  to 
furnish  the  main  potation. 

So  far  we  have  witnessed  not  a  symposium,  but  merely  a 
dinner ;  and  many  a  proper  party  has  broken  up  when  the 
last  of  the  dessert  has  disappeared ;  but,  after  all,  the  drink- 
ing bout  is  the  real  crown  of  the  feast.  It  is  not  so  much 
the  wine  as  the  things  that  go  with  the  wine  that  are  so 
delightful.  As  to  what  these  desirable  condiments  are, 
opinions  differ.  Plato  (who  is  by  no  means  too  much  of  a 
philosopher  to  be  a  real  man  of  the  world)  says  in  his 

1  Napkins  were  not  used  in  Greece  before  Roman  days. 


186  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

Protagoras  that  mere  conversation  is  the  thing  at  a  sym. 
posium.  "  When  the  company  are  real  gentlemen  and  men 
of  education,  you  will  see  no  flute  girls  nor  dancing  girls  nor 
harp  girls ;  they  will  have  no  nonsense  nor  games,  but  will  be 
content  with  one  another's  conversation."1  But  this  ideal, 
though  commended,  is  not  always  followed  in  decidedly 
intellectual  circles.  Xenophon2  shows  us  a  select  party 
wherein  Socrates  participated,  in  which  the  host  has  been 
fain  to  hire  in  a  professional  Syracusian  entertainer  with  two 
assistants,  a  boy  and  a  girl,  who  bring  their  performance  to 
a  climax  by  a  very  suggestive  dumb-show  play  of  the  story  of 
Bacchus  and  Ariadne.  Prodicus's  friends,  being  solid,  some- 
what pragmatic  men  —  neither  young  sports  nor  philoso- 
phers —  steer  a  middle  course.  There  is  a  flute  girl  present, 
because  to  have  a  good  symposium  without  some  music  is 
almost  unimaginable;  but  she  is  discreetly  kept  in  the  back- 
ground. 

165.  The  Symposiarch  and  his  Duties.  —  "Let's  cast  for 
our  Symposiarch ! "  is  Prodicus's  next  order,  and  each  guest 
in  turn  rattles  the  dice  box.  Tyche  (Lady  Fortune)  gives 
the  presidency  of  the  feast  to  Eunapius,  a  bright-eyed, 
middle-aged  man  with  a  keen  humor,  but  a  correct  sense  of 
good  breeding.  He  assumes  command  of  the  symposium ; 
takes  the  ordering  of  the  servants  out  of  Prodicus's  hands, 
and  orders  the  wine  to  be  mixed  in  the  craters  with  proper 
dilution.  He  then  rises  and  pours  out  a  libation  from  each 
bowl  "to  the  Olympian  Gods,"  "to  the  Heroes,"  and  "to 
Zeus  the  Saviour,"  and  casts  a  little  incense  upon  the  altar. 
The  guests  all  sing  a  Pcean,  not  a  warrior's  charging  song 
this  time,  but  a  short  hymn  in  praise  of  the  Wine-God, 
some  lilting  catch  like  Alceeus's 

1  Plato  again  says  (Politicals,  277  6),  "  To  intelligent  persons,  a  living 
being  is  mor«  truly  delineated  by  language  and  discourse  than  by  any 
painting  or  work  of  art." 

2  In  his  Symposium  —  which  is  far  less  perfect  as   literature   than 
Plato's,  but  probably  corresponds  more  to  the  average  instance. 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium     187 

In  mighty  flagons  hither  bring 
The  deep  red  blood  of  many  a  vine, 

That  we  may  largely  quaff  and  sing 
The  praises  of  the  God  of  wine. 

166.  Conversation  at  the  Symposium.  —  After  this  the  sym- 
posium will  proceed  according  to  certain  general  rules  which 
it  is  Eunapius's  duty  to  enforce;  but  in  the  main  a  "pro- 
gram" is  something  to  be  avoided.  Everybody  must  feel 
himself  acting  spontaneously  and  freely.  He  must  try  to 
take  his  part  in  the  conversation  and  neither  speak  too 
seldom  nor  too  little.  It  is  not  "  good  form  "  for  two  guests 
to  converse  privately  among  themselves,  nor  for  anybody  to 
dwell  on  unpleasant  or  controversial  topics.  Aristophanes 
has  laid  down  after  his  way  the  proper  kind  of  things  to 
talk  about.1  "  [Such  as]  <  how  Ephudion  fought  a  fine  pan- 
cratium with  Ascondas  though  old  and  gray  headed,  but 
showing  great  form  'and  muscle.'  This  is  the  talk  usual 
among  refined  people  [or  again]  *  some  manly  act  of  your 
youth ;  for  example,  how  you  chased  a  boar  or  a  hare,  or 
won  a  torch  race  by  some  bold  device.'  [Then  when  fairly 
settled  at  the  feast]  straighten  your  knees  and  throw  your- 
self in  a  graceful  and  easy  manner  upon  the  couch.  Then 
make  some  observations  upon  the  beauty  of  the  appoint- 
ments, look  up  at  the  ceiling  and  praise  the  tapestry  of  the 
room." 

As  the  wine  goes  around,  tongues  loosen  more  and  more. 
Everybody  gesticulates  in  delightful  southern  gestures,  but 
does  not  lose  his  inherent  courtesy.  The  anecdotes  told  are 
often  very  egoistic.  The  first  personal  pronoun  is  used 
extremely  often,  and  "  I "  becomes  the  hero  of  a  great  many 
exploits.  The  Athenian,  in  short,  is  an  adept  at  praising 
himself  with  affected  modesty,  and  his  companions  listen 
good-humoredly,  and  retaliate  by  praising  themselves. 

i  Wasps,  1174-1664. 


188  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

167.  Games  and  Entertainments.  —  By  the  time  the  craters 
are  one  third  emptied  the  general  conversation  is  beginning 
to  be  broken  up.  It  is  time  for  various  standard  diversions. 
Eunapius  therefore  begins  by  enjoining  on  each  guest  in 
turn  to  sing  a  verse  in  which  a  certain  letter  must  not 
appear,  and  in  event  of  failure  to  pay  some  ludicrous  forfeit. 
Thus  the  bald  man  is  ordered  to  begin  to  comb  his  hair; 
the  lame  man  (halt  since  the  Mantinea  campaign),  to  stand 
up  and  dance  to  the  flute  player,  etc.  There  are  all  kinds 
of  guessing  of  riddles  —  often  very  ingenious  as  become  the 
possessors  of  "  Attic  salt."  Another  diversion  is  to  compare 
every  guest  present  to  some  mythical  monster,  a  process 
which  infallibly  ends  by  getting  the  "Parasite"  likened 
to  Cerberus,  the  Hydra,  or  some  such  dragon,  amid  the 
laughter  of  all  the  rest.  At  some  point  in  the  amusement 
the  company  is  sure  to  get  to  singing  songs :  —  "  Scolia  "  — 
drinking  songs  indeed,  but  often  of  a  serious  moral  or  patri- 
otic character,  whereof  the  oft-quoted  song  in  praise  of  Har- 
modius  and  Aristogeiton  the  tyrant-slayers  is  a  good  example.1 
No  "gentleman"  will  profess  to  be  a  public  singer,  but  to 
have  a  deep,  well-trained  voice,  and  to  be  able  to  take  one's 
part  in  the  symposium  choruses  is  highly  desirable,  and 
some  of  the  singing  at  Prodicus's  banquet  is  worth  hearing. 

Before  the  evening  is  over  various  games  will  be  ordered 
in,  especially  the  cottabus,  which  is  in  great  vogue.  On  the 
top  of  a  high  stand,  something  like  a  candelabrum,  is  bal- 
anced rather  delicately  a  little  saucer  of  brass.  The  players 
stand  at  a  considerable  distance  with  cups  of  wine.  The 
game  is  to  toss  a  small  quantity  of  wine  into  the  balanced 
saucer  so  smartly  as  to  make  the  brass  give  out  a  clear  ring- 
ing sound,  and  to  tilt  over  upon  its  side.2  Much  shouting, 

1  Given  in  Readings  in  Ancient  History,  Vol.  I,  p.  117,  and  in  many 
other  volumes. 

2 This  was  the  simplest  form  of  the  cottabus  game;  there  were  numer- 
ous elaborations,  but  our  accounts  of  them  are  by  no  means  clear. 


Athenian  Cookery  and  the  Symposium     189 

merriment,  and  a  little  wagering  ensues.  While  most  of  the 
company  prefer  the  cottabus,  two,  who  profess  to  be  experts, 
call  for  a  gaming  board  and  soon  are  deep  in  the  "  game  of 
towns  "  —  very  like  to  latter-day  "  checkers,"  played  with  a 
board  divided  into  numerous  squares.  Each  contestant  has 
thirty  colored  stones,  and  the  effort  is  to  surround  your  op- 
ponent's stones  and  capture  them.  Some  of  the  company, 
however,  regard  this  as  too  profound,  and  after  trying  their 
skill  at  the  cottabus  betake  themselves  to  the  never  failing 
chances  of  dice.  Yet  these  games  are  never  suffered  (in  re- 
fined dinner  parties)  to  banish  the  conversation.  That 
after  all  is  the  center,  although  it  is  not  good  form  to  talk 
over  learnedly  of  statecraft,  military  tactics,  or  philosophy. 
If  such  are  discussed,  it  must  be  with  playful  abandon,  and 
a  disclaimer  of  being  serious ;  and  even  very  grave  and 
gray  men  remember  Anacreon's  preference  for  the  praise  of 
"  the  glorious  gifts  of  the  Muses  and  of  Aphrodite  "  rather 
than  solid  discussions  of  "conquest  and  war." 

168.   Going  Home  from  the  Feast :  Midnight  Revellers.  — At 

length  the  oil  lamps  have  begun  to  burn  dim.  The  tired 
slaves  are  yawning.  Their  masters,  despite  Prodicus's  in- 
tentions of  having  a  very  proper  symposium,  have  all 
drunk  enough  to  get  unstable  and  silly.  Eunapius  gives 
the  signal.  All  rise,  and  join  in  the  final  libation  to 
Hermes.  "Shoes  and  himation,  boy,"  each  says  to  his 
slave,  and  with  thanks  to  their  host  they  all  fare  home- 
ward. 

Such  will  be  the  ending  to  an  extremely  decorous  feast. 
With  gay  young  bloods  present,  however,  it  might  have 
degenerated  into  an  orgy;  the  flute  girl  (or  several  of 
them)  would  have  contributed  over  much  to  the  "free- 
dom " ;  and  when  the  last  deep  crater  had  been  emptied,  the 
whole  company  would  have  rushed  madly  into  the  street, 
and  gone  whirling  away  through  the  darkness,  —  harps  and 


190  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

flutes  sounding,  boisterous  songs  pealing,  red  torches 
tossing.  Eevellers  in  this  mood  would  be  ready  for  any- 
thing. Perhaps  they  would  end  in  some  low  tavern  at  the 
Peiraeus  to  sleep  off  their  liquor;  perhaps  their  leader 
would  find  some  other  Symposium  in  progress,  and  after 
loud  knoekings,  force  his  way  into  the  house,  even  as  did 
the  mad  Alcibiades,  who  (once  more  to  recall  Plato)  thrust 
his  way  into  Agathon's  feast,  staggering,  leaning  on  a  flute 
girl,  and  shouting  "  Where's  Agathon ! "  Such  an  inroad 
would  be  of  course  the  signal  for  more  and  ever  more  hard 
drinking.  The  wild  invaders  might  make  themselves  com- 
pletely at  home,  and  dictate  all  the  proceedings :  the  end 
would  be  even  as  at  Agathon's  banquet,  where  everybody 
but  Socrates  became  completely  drunken,  and  lay  prone 
on  the  couches  or  the  floor.  One  hopes  that  the  honest 
Prodicus  has  no  such  climax  to  his  symposium. 

...  At  length  the  streets  grow  quiet.  Citizens  sober  or 
drunken  are  asleep :  only  the  vigilant  Scythian  archers 
patrol  the  ways  till  the  cocks  proclaim  the  first  gray  of 
dawn. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
COUNTRY  LIFE  AROUND   ATHENS 

169.  Importance  of  his  Farm  to  an  Athenian.  —  We  have 
followed  the  doings  of  a  typical  Athenian  during  his  or- 
dinary activities  around  the  city,  but  for  the  average  gentle- 
man an  excursion  outside  the  town  is  indispensable  at  least 
every  two  or  three  days,  and  perhaps  every  day.     He  must 
visit  his  farm ;  for  his  wealth  and  income  are  probably  tied 
up  there,  rather  than  in  any  unaristocratic  commercial  and 
manufacturing  enterprises.     Homer's   "  royal "   heroes  are 
not  ashamed  to  be  skilful  at  following  the  plow1:  and  no 
Athenian  feels  that  he  is  contaminating  himself  by  "  trade  " 
when  he  supervises  the  breeding  of  sheep  or  the  raising  of 
onions.     We  will  therefore  follow  in  the  tracks  of  certain 
well-to-do  citizens,  when  we  turn  toward  the  Itonian  gate 
sometime  during  the  morning,  while  the  Agora  is  still  in  a 
busy  hum,  even  if  thus  we  are  curtailing  our  hypothetical 
visits  to  the  Peirseus  or  to  the  bankers. 

170.  The  Country  by  the  Ilissus :  the  Greeks  and  Natural 
Beauty.  —  Our  companions  are  on  horseback   (a  token  of 
tolerable  wealth  in  Athens),  but  the  beasts  amble  along  not 
too  rapidly  for  nimble  grooms  to  run  behind,  each  ready  to 
aid  his  respective  master.     Once  outside  the  gate  the  regular 
road  swings  down  to  the  south  towards  Phalerum  ;  we,  how- 
ever, are  in  no  great  haste  and  desire  to  see  as  much  as 
possible.     The  farms  we  are  seeking  lie  well  north  of  the 

i  See  Odysseus's  boasts,  Odyssey,  XVIII.  360  et  passim.    The  gentility 
of  farming  is  emphasized  by  a  hundred  precepts  from  Hesiod. 
101 


192  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

city,  but  we  can  make  a  delightful  circuit  by  skirting  the 
city  walls  with  the  eastern  shadow  of  the  Acropolis  behind 
us,  and  going  at  first  northeast,  along  the  groves  and  leafy 
avenues  which  line  the  thin  stream  of  the  Ilissus,1  the 
second  "  river  "  of  Athens. 

Before  us  through  the  trees  came  tantalizing  glimpses  of 
the  open  country  running  away  towards  shaggy  gray 
Hymettus.  Left  to  itself  the  land  would  be  mostly  arid 
and  seared  brown  by  the  summer  sun ;  but  everywhere  the 
friendly  work  of  man  is  visible.  One  can  count  the  little 
green  oblong  patches,  stretching  even  up  the  mountain  side, 
marked  with  gleaming  \vhite  farm  buildings  or  sometimes 
with  little  temples  and  chapels  sacred  to  the  rural  gods. 
Once  or  twice  also  we  notice  a  plot  of  land  which  seems 
one  tangled  waste  of  trees  and  shrubbery.  This  is  a  sacred 
temenos,  an  inviolate  grove,  set  apart  to  some  god;  and 
within  the  fences  of  the  compound  no  mortal  dare  set  foot 
under  pain  of  direful  sacrilege  and  pollution. 

Following  a  kind  of  bridle  path,  however,  we  are  soon 
amid  the  groves  of  olive  and  other  trees,  while  the  horses 
plod  their  slow  way  beside  the  brook.  Not  a  few  citizens 
going  or  coming  from  Athens  meet  us,  for  this  is  really  one 
of  the  parks  and  breathing  spaces  of  the  closely  built  city. 
The  Athenians  and  Greeks  in  general  live  in  a  land  of  such 
natural  beauty  that  they  take  this  loveliness  as  a  matter 
of  course.  Very  seldom  do  their  poets  indulge  in  deliberate 
descriptions  of  "  beautiful  landscapes  " ;  but  none  the  less 
the  fair  things  of  nature  have  penetrated  deeply  into  their 
souls.  The  constant  allusions  in  Homer  and  the  other 
masters  of  song  to  the  great  storm  waves,  the  deep  shades 
of  the  forest,  the  crystal  brooks,  the  pleasant  rest  for  wan- 
derers under  the  shade  trees,  the  plains  bright  with  spring 

JThe  Ilissus,  unlike  its  sturdier  rival,  the  Cephisus,  ran  dry  during  the 
summer  heats ;  but  there  was  enough  water  along  its  bed  to  create  a  dense 
vegetation. 


Country  Life  around  Athens  193 

flowers,  the  ivy  twining  above-  a  grave,  the  lamenting 
nightingale,  the  chirping  cicada,  tell  their  own  story; 
men  seldom  describe  at  length  what  is  become  warp  and 
woof  of  their  inmost  lives.  The  mere  fact  that  the  Greeks 
dwell  constantly  in  such  a  beautiful  land,  and  have  learned 
to  love  it  so  intensely,  makes  frequent  and  set  descriptions 
thereto  seem  trivial. 

171.  Plato's  Description  of  the  Walk  by  the  Ilissus.— 
Nevertheless  occasionally  this  inborn  love  of  the  glorious 
outer  world  must  find  its  expression,  and  it  is  of  these  very 
groves  along  the  Ilissus  that  we  have  one  of  the  few  "  nature 
pieces"  in  Athenian  literature.  As  the  plodding  steeds 
take  their  way  let  us  recall  our  Plato  —  his  Phcedrus,  written 
probably  not  many  years  before  this  our  visit. 

Socrates  is  walking  with  Phaedrus  outside  the  walls,  and 
urges  the  latter  :  "  Let  us  go  to  the  Ilissus  and  sit  down  in 
some  quiet  spot."  "  I  am  fortunate,"  answers  Phaedrus, 
"  in  not  having  my  sandals  on,  and,  as  you  never  have  any, 
we  may  go  along  the  brook  and  cool  our  feet.  This  is  the 
easiest  way,  and  at  midday  is  anything  but  unpleasant." 
He  adds  that  they  will  go  on  to  the  tallest  plane  tree  in  the 
distance,  "where  are  shade  and  gentle  breezes,  and  grass 
whereon  we  may  either  sit  or  lie.  .  .  .  The  little  stream  is 
delightfully  clear  and  bright.  I  can  fancy  there  might  well 
be  maidens  playing  near  [according  to  the  local  myth  of 
Boreas's  rape  of  Orithyia]."  And  so  at  last  they  come  to 
the  place,  when  Socrates  says :  "  Yes  indeed,  a  fair  and  shady 
resting  place  it  is,  full  of  summer  sounds  and  scents.  There 
is  the  lofty  and  spreading  plane  tree,  and  the  agnus  castus, 
high  and  clustering  in  the  fullest  blossom  and  the  greatest 
fragrance,  and  the  stream  which  flows  beneath  the  plane  tree 
is  deliciously  cool  to  the  feet.  Judging  by  the  ornaments 
and  images  [set]  about,  this  must  be  a  spot  sacred  to 
Achelous  and  the  Nymphs ;  moreover  there  is  a  sweet  breeze 


194  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

and  the  grasshoppers  are  chirruping;  and  the  greatest 
charm  of  all  is  the  grass  like  a  pillow,  gently  sloping  to  the 
head." l 

172.  The  Athenian  Love  of  Country  Life.  —  So  the  two 
friends  had  sat  them  down  to  delve  in  delightful  profundi- 
ties ;  but  following  the  bridle  path,  the  little  brook  and  its 
groves  end  for  us  all  too  soon.  We  are  in  the  open  country 
around  Athens,  and  the  fierce  rays  of  Helios  beat  strongly 
on  our  heads.  We  are  outside  the  city,  but  by  no  means 
far  from  human  life.  Farm  succeeds  farm,  for  the  land 
around  Athens  has  a  goodly  population  to  maintain,  and 
there  is  a  round  price  for  vegetables  in  the  Agora.  Truth 
to  tell,  the  average  Athenian,  though  he  pretends  to  love  the 
market,  the  Pnyx,  the  Dicasteries,  and  the  Gymnasia,  has  a 
shrewd  hankering  for  the  soil,  and  does  not  care  to  spend 
more  time  in  Athens  than  necessary.  Aristophanes  is  full 
of  the  contrasts  between  "  country  life  "  and  "  city  life  "  and 
almost  always  with  the  advantage  given  the  former.  Says 
his  Strepsiades  (in  The  Clouds),  "  A  country  life  for  me  — 
dirty,  untrimmed,  lolling  around  at  ease,  and  just  abound- 
ing in  bees  and  sheep  and  oil  cake."  His  Diceaeopolis 
(Acharnians)  voices  clearly  the  independence  of  the  farmer : 
"How  I  long  for  peace.2  I'm  disgusted  with  the  city  ;  and 
yearn  for  my  own  farm  which  never  bawled  out  [as  in  the 
markets]  'buy  my  coals'  or  'buy  my  vinegar'  or  'oil,'  or 
knew  the  word  'buy,'  but  just  of  itself  produced  everything." 
And  his  Trygaeus  (in  The  Peace)  states  the  case  better  yet : 
"  Ah  !  how  eager  I  am  to  get  back  into  the  fields,  and  break 
up  my  little  farm  with  the  mattock  again  .  .  .  [for  I  re- 
member] what  kind  of  a  life  we  had  there ;  and  those  cakes 
of  dried  fruits,  and  the  figs,  and  the  myrtles,  and  the  sweet 

1  Jewett,  translator;  slightly  altered. 

3  I.e.  the  end  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  which  compelled  the  farming 
population  to  remove  inside  the  walls. 


Country  Life  around  Athens  195 

new  wine,  and  the  violet  bed  next  to  the  well,  and  the  olives 
we  so  long  for ! " 

There  is  another  reason  why  the  Athenians  rejoice  in  the 
country.  The  dusty  streets  are  at  best  a  poor  playground 
for  the  children,  the  inner  court  of  the  house  is  only  a  re- 
spectable prison  for  the  wife.  In  the  country  the  lads  can 
enjoy  themselves ;  the  wife  and  the  daughters  can  roam 
about  freely  with  delightful  absence  of  convention.  There 
will  be  no  happier  day  in  the  year  than  when  the  master 
says,  "  Let  us  set  out  for  the  farm." 

173.  Some  Features  of  the  Attic  Country. — Postponing  our 
examination  of  Athenian  farmsteads  and  farming  methods 
until  we  reach  some  friendly  estate,  various  things  strike  us 
as  we  go  along  the  road.  One  is  the  skilful  system  of  irri- 
gation, —  the  numerous  watercourses  drawn  especially  from 
the  Cephisus,  whereby  the  agriculturists  make  use  of  every 
possible  scrap  of  moisture  for  the  fields,  groves,  and  vine- 
yards. Another  is  the  occasional  olive  tree  we  see  standing, 
gnarled  and  venerable,  but  carefully  fenced  about ;  or  even 
(not  infrequently)  we  see  fences  only  with  but  a  dead  and 
utterly  worthless  stump  within.  Do  not  speak  lightly  of 
these  "stumps,"  however.  They  are  none  the  less  "moriai" 
—  sacred  olive  trees  of  Athena,  and  carefully  tended  by 
public  wardens.1  Contractors  are  allowed  to  take  the  fruit 

1  Athenians  loved  to  dwell  on  the  "divine  gift"  of  the  olive.  Thus 
Euripides  sang  (Troades,  799)  :  — 

In  Salamis,  filled  with  the  foaming 

Of  billows  and  murmur  of  bees, 
Old  Telamon  stayed  from  his  roaming 

Long  ago,  on  a  throne  of  the  seas, 
Looking  out  on  the  hills  olive  laden, 

Enchanted,  where  first  from  the  earth 
The  gray-gleaming  fruit  of  the  Maiden 

Athena  had  birth.  —MURRAY,  translator. 

The  hero  Telamon  was  reputed  an  uncle  of  Achilles  and  one  of  the  early 
kings  of  Salamis. 


196 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


of  the  live  trees  under  carefully  regulated  conditions  ;  but 
no  one  is  allowed  to  remove  the  stumps,  much  less  hew  down 
a  living  tree.  An  offender  is  tried  for  "  impiety  "  before  the 
high  court  of  the  Areopagus,  and  his  fate  is  pretty  surely 

death,  for  the  coun- 
try people,  at  least, 
regard  their  sacred 
trees  with  a  fanati- 
cal devotion  which 
it  would  take  long 
to  explain  to  a  stran- 
ger. 

Also  upon  the  way 
one  is  pretty  sure  to 
meet  a  wandering 
beggar  —  a  shrewd- 
eyed,  bewhiskered 
fellow.  He  carries, 
not  a  barrel  organ 
and  monkey,  but  a 
blinking  tame  crow 

perched  on  his  shoulder,  and  at  every  farmstead  he  halts  to 
whine  his  nasal  ditty  and  ask  his  dole. 

Good  people,  a  handful  of  barley  bestow 
On  the  child  of  Apollo,  the  sleek  sable  crow  ; 
Or  a  trifle  of  wheat,  0  kind  friends,  give  ;  — 
Or  a  wee  loaf  of  bread  that  the  crow  may  live. 

It  is  counted  good  luck  by  the  housewife  to  have  a  chance  to 
feed  a  "holy  crow,"  and  the  owner's  pickings  are  goodly. 
By  the  time  we  have  left  the  beggar  behind  us  we  are  at  the 
farm  whither  our  excursion  has  been  tending. 

174.  An  Attic  Farmstead.  —  We  are  to  inspect  the  landed 
estate  of  Hybrias,  the  son  of  Xanthippus.  It  lies  north  of 
Athens  on  the  slopes  of  Anchesmus,  one  of  the  lesser  hills 


ITINERANT  PIPER  WITH  HIS  Doc. 


Country  Life  around  Athens  197 

which  roll  away  toward  the  marble-crowned  summits  of 
Pentelicus.  Part  of  the  farm  lands  lie  on  the  level  ground 
watered  by  the  irrigation  ditches ;  part  upon  the  hillsides, 
and  here  the  slopes  have  been  terraced  in  a  most  skilful 
fashion,  in  order  to  make  the  most  of  every  possible  inch  of 
ground,  and  also  to  prevent  any  of  the  precious  soil  from 
being  washed  down  by  the  torrents  of  February  and  March. 
The  owner  is  a  wealthy  man,  and  has  an  extensive  estab- 
lishment ;  the  farm  buildings  —  once  whitewashed,  but  now 
for  the  most  part  somewhat  dirty  —  wander  away  over  a 
large  area.  There  are  wide  courts,  deep  in  manure,  sur- 
rounded by  barns ;  there  are  sties,  haymows,  carefully  closed 
granaries,  an  olive  press,  a  grain  mill,  all  kinds  of  stables 
and  folds,  likewise  a  huge  irregularly  shaped  house  wherein 
are  lodged  the  numerous  slaves  and  the  hired  help.  The 
general  design  of  this  house  is  the  same  as  of  a  city  house 

—  the  rooms  opening  upon  an  inner  court,  but  naturally  its 
dimensions  are  ampler,  with  the  ampler  land  space. 

Just  now  the  courtyard  is  a  noisy  and  animated  sight. 
The  master  has  this  moment  ridden  in,  upon  one  of  his  pe- 
riodic visits  from  Athens  ;  the  farm  overseer  has  run  out  to 
meet  him  and  report,  and  half  a  dozen  long,  lean  hunting 
dogs  —  Darter,  Eoarer,  Tracker,  Active,  and  more  1  —  are 
dancing  and  yelping,  in  the  hope  that  their  owner  will 
order  a  hare  hunt.  The  overseer  is  pouring  forth  his 
usual  burden  of  woe  about  the  inefficient  help  and  the  lack 
of  rain,  and  Hybrias  is  complaining  of  the  small  spring  crop 

—  "  Zeus  send  us  something  better  this  summer  ! "     While 
these  worthies  are  adjusting  their  troubles  we  may  look 
around  the  farm. 

175.  Plowing,  Reaping,  and  Threshing.  —  Thrice  a  year 
the  Athenian  farmer  plows,  unless  he  wisely  determines 

1  For  an  exhaustive  list  of  names  for  Greek  dogs,  see  Xenophon'g 
curious  Ussay  on  Hunting,  ch.  VII,  §  5. 


198 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


to  let  his  field  lie  fallow  for  the  nonce ;  and  the  summer 
plowing  on  Hybrias's  estate  is  now  in  progress.  Up  and 
down  a  wide  field  the  ox  team  is  going.1  The  plow  is  an 
extremely  primitive  affair —  mainly  of  wood,  although  over 
the  sharpened  point  which  forms  the  plowshare  a  plate  of 
iron  has  been  fitted.  Such  a  plow  requires  very  skilful 

handling  to  cut  a  good 
furrow,  and  the  driver 
of  the  team  has  no 
sinecure. 

In  a  field  near  by, 
the  hinds  are  reaping 
a  crop  of  wheat  which 
was  late  in  ripening.2 
The  workers  are  bend- 
ing with  semicircular 
sickles  over  their  hot 
task  ;  yet  they  form  a 
merry,  noisy  crowd, 
full  of  homely  "har- 
vest songs,"  nominally 
in  honor  of  Demeter,  the  Earth  Mother,  but  ranging  upon 
every  conceivable  rustic  topic.  Some  laborers  are  cutting 
the  grain,  others,  walking  behind,  are  binding  into  sheaves 
and  piling  into  clumsy  ox  wains.  Here  and  there  a 
sheaf  is  standing,  and  we  are  told  that  this  is  left  "for 
luck,"  as  an  offering  to  the  rural  Field  Spirit;  for  your 
farm  hand  is  full  of  superstitions.  Also  amid  the  workers 
a  youth  is  passing  with  a  goodly  jar  of  cheap  wine,  to  which 
the  harvesters  make  free  to  run  from  time  to  time  for  re- 
freshment. 

Close  by  the  field  is  the  threshing  floor.     More  laborers 

1  Mules  were   sometimes  used  for   drawing  the  plow,  but  horses,  it 
would  seem,  never. 

2  The  regular  time  for  reaping  the  October-sown  wheat  was  May  or  June. 


WOMEN  POUNDING  MEAL. 


Country  Life  around  Athens  199 

—  not   a  few  bustling  country  lasses  among  them  —  are 
spreading  out  the  sheaves  with  wooden  forks,  a  little  at  a 
time,  in  thin  layers  over  this  circular  space,  which  is  paved 
with  little  cobblestones.     More  oxen  and  a  patient  mule  are 
being  driven  over  it  —  around  and  around  —  until  every 
kernel  is  trodden  out  by  their  hoofs.     Later  will  come  the 
tossing  and  the  winnowing ;  and,  when  the  grain  has  been 
thoroughly  cleaned,  it  will  be  stored  in  great  earthern  jars 
for  the  purpose  of  sale  or  against  the  winter. 

176.  Grinding    at    the     Mill. — Nearer    the    farmhouses 
there  rises  a  dull  grinding  noise.     It  is  the  mill  prepar- 
ing the  flour  for  the  daily  baking,  for  seldom  —  at  least 
in  the  country  —  will  a  Greek  grind  flour  long  in  advance 
of  the  time  of  use.     There  the  round  upper  millstone  is 
being  revolved  upon  an  iron  pivot  against  its  lower  mate  and 
turned  by  a  long  wooden  handle.      Two  nearly  naked  slave 
boys  are  turning  this  wearily  —  far  pleasanter  they  consider 
the  work  of  the  harvesters,  and  very  likely  this  task  is  set 
them  as  a  punishment.     As  the  mill  revolves  a  slave  girl 
pours  the  grain  into  a  hole  in  the  center  of  the  upper  mill- 
stone.    As  the  hot,  slow  work  goes  on,  the  two  toilers  chant 
together  a  snatch  from  an  old  mill  song,  and  we  catch  the 
monotonous  strain :  — 

Grind,  mill,  grind, 

For  Pittacus  did  grind  — 

Who  was  king  over  great  Mytilene. 

It  will  be  a  long  time  before  there  is  enough  flour  for  the 
day.  The  slaves  can  at  least  rejoice  that  they  live  on  a 
large  farm.  If  Hybrias  owned  a  smaller  estate,  they  would 
probably  be  pounding  up  the  grain  with  mortar  and  pestle 

—  more  weary  yet. 

177.  The  Olive  Orchards. —  We,  at  least,  can  leave  them  to 
their  work,  and  escape  to  the  shade  of  the  orchards  and  the 


200  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

vineyards.  Like  every  Athenian  farmer,  Hybrias  has  an 
olive  orchard.  The  olives  are  sturdy  trees.  They  will 
grow  in  any  tolerable  soil  and  thrive  upon  the  mountain 
slopes  up  to  as  far  as  1800  feet  above  sea  level.  They  are 
not  large  trees,  and  their  trunks  are  often  grotesquely 
gnarled,  but  there  is  always  a  certain  fascination  about  the 
wonderful  shimmer  of  their  leaves,  which  flash  from  gray 


GATHERING  THE  OLIVE  HARVEST. 

to  silver-white  in  a  sunny  wind.  Hybrias  has  wisely 
planted  his  olives  at  wide  intervals,  and  in  the  space  be- 
tween the  ground  has  been  plowed  up  for  grain.  Olives 
need  little  care.  Their  harvest  comes  late  in  the  autumn, 
after  all  the  other  crops  are  out  of  the  way.  They  are 
among  the  most  profitable  products  of  the  farm,  and  the 
owner  will  not  mind  the  poor  wheat  harvest  "  if  only  the 
olives  do  well."  l 

1  The  great  drawback  to  olive  culture  was  the  great  length  of  time  re- 
quired to  mature  the  trees— sixteen  years.    The  destruction  of  the  trees, 


Country  Life  around  Athens  201 

178.  The    Vineyards.  —  The   fig  orchard  forms   another 
great  part  of  the  farm,  but  more  interesting  to  strangers 
are  the  vineyards.     Some  of  the  grapes  are  growing  over 
pointed    stakes  set   all  along  the  upland  terraces;   a  por- 
tion of  the  vineyards,  however,  is  on  level  ground.     Here  a 
most  picturesque   method  has  been  used  for  training  the 
vines.     Tall  and  graceful  trees  have  been  set  out  —  elm, 
maple,  oak,  poplar.     The  lower   limbs  of  the   trees  have 
been  cut  away  and  up  their  trunks  and  around  their  upper 
branches   now   swing  the    vines  in  magnificent   festoons. 
The  growing  vines  have  sprung  from  tree  to  tree.     The 
warm  breeze  has  set  the  rich  clusters  —  already  turning 
purple  or  golden  —  swaying  above  our  heads.     The  air  is 
filled  with  brightness,  greenery,  and  fragrance.     The  effect 
of  this  "  vineyard  grove  "  is  magical. 

179.  Cattle,  Sheep,  and  Goats.  —  There  is  also  room  in  the 
orchards  for  apples,  pears,  and  quinces,  but  there  is  nothing 
distinctive  about  their   culture.     If  we  are  interested  in 
cattle,  however,  we  can  spend  a  long  time  at  the  barns, 
or  be   guided  out  to  the  upland  pasture  where   Hybrias's 
flocks  and  herds  are  grazing.     Horses  are  a  luxury.     They 
are    almost  never  used  in  farm  work,  and  for  riding  and 
cavalry  service  it  is  best  to  import  a  good  courser  from 
Thessaly;  no  attempt,  therefore,   is   made  to  breed  them 
here.    But  despite  the  small  demand  for  beef  and  butter  a 
good  many  cattle  are  raised ;  for  oxen  are  needed  for  the 
plowing  and  carting,  oxhides  have  a  steady  sale,  and  there 
is  a  regular  call  for  beeves  for  the  hecatombs  at  the  great 
public  sacrifices.     Sheep  are  in  greater  acceptance.     Their 
wool  is  of  large  importance  to  a  land  which  knows  com- 
paratively little  of  cotton.     They  can  live  on  scanty  pastur- 

e.g.  in  war  by  a  ravaging  invader,  was  an  infinitely  greater  calamity 
than  the  burning  of  the  standing  grain  or  even  of  the  farmhouses. 
Probably  it  was  the  ruin  of  their  olive  trees  which  the  Athenians 
mourned  most  during  the  ravaging  of  Attica  in  the  Peloponnesian  War. 


202 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


age  where  an  ox  would  starve.  Still  more  in  favor  are  goats. 
Their  coarse  hair  has  a  thousand  uses.  Their  flesh  and 
cheese  are  among  the  most  staple  articles  in  the  Agora. 
Sure-footed  and  adventurous,  they  scale  the  side  of  the  most 
unpromising  crags  in  search  of  herbage  and  can  sometimes 
be  seen  perching,  almost  like  birds,  in  what  seem  utterly 

inaccessible  eyries. 
Thanks  to  them  the 
barren  highlands  of 
Attica  are  turned  to 
good  account,  —  and 
between  goat  raising 
and  bee  culture  an  in- 
come can  sometimes 
be  extracted  from  the 
very  summits  of  the 
mountains.  As  for  the 
numerous  swine,  it  is 


RURAL  SACRIFICE  TO  A  WOODEN  STATUE 
OF  DIONYSUS. 


enough  to  say  that  they 
range  under  Hybrias's 
oak  forest  and  fatten 

on  the  acorns,  although  their  swineherd,  wrapped  in  a 
filthy  sheepskin,  is  a  far  more  loutish  and  ignoble  fellow 
than  the  "  divine  Eumaeus  "  glorified  in  the  Odyssey. 

180.  The  Gardens  and  the  Shrine.  —  Did  we  wish  to  linger, 
we  could  be  shown  the  barnyard  with  its  noisy  retinue  of 
hens,  pheasants,  guinea  fowl,  and  pigeons ;  and  we  would  be 
asked  to  admire  the  geese,  cooped  up  and  being  gorged  for 
fattening,  or  the  stately  peacocks  preening  their  splendors. 
We  would  also  hear  sage  disquisitions  from  the  "oldest 
inhabitants  "  on  the  merits  of  fertilizers,  especially  on  the 
uses  of  mixing  seaweed  with  manure,  also  we  would  be  told 
of  the  almost  equally  important  process  of  burying  a  toad 
in  a  sealed  jar  in  the  midst  of  a  field  to  save  the  corn  from 


Country  Life  around  Athens  203 

the  crows  and  the  field  mice.  Hybrias  laughs  at  such 
superstitions  —  "but  what  can  you  say  to  the  rustics?" 
Hybrias  himself  will  display  with  more  refined  pride  the 
gardens  used  by  his  wife  and  children  when  they  come  out 
from  Athens,  —  a  fountain  feeding  a  delightful  rivulet ; 
myrtles,  roses,  and  pomegranate  trees  shedding  their  per- 
fumes, which  are  mingled  with  the  odors  from  the  beds  of 
hyacinths,  violets,  and  asphodel.  In  the  center  of  the  gardens 
rises  a  chaste  little  shrine  with  a  marble  image  and  an  altar, 
always  covered  with  flowers  or  fruit  by  the  mistress  and 
her  women.  "  To  Artemis,"  reads  the  inscription,  and  one 
is  sure  that  the  virgin  goddess  takes  more  pleasure  in  this 
fragrant  temple  than  in  many  loftier  fanes.1 

We  are  glad  to  add  here  our  wreaths  ere  turning  away 
from  this  wholesome,  verdant  country  seat,  and  again  tak- 
ing our  road  to  Athens. 

1  For  the  description  of  a  very  beautiful  and  elaborate  country  estate, 
with  a  temple  thereon  to  Artemis,  see  Xenophon's  Anabasis,  bk.  V.  3. 


CHAPTER   XX. 
THE  TEMPLES  AND  GODS  OF  ATHENS. 

181.  Certain  Factors  in  Athenian  Religion.  —  We  have  seen 
the  Athenians  in  their  business  and  in  their  pleasure,  at  their 
courts,  their  assemblies,  their  military  musters,  and  on  their 
peaceful  farms  ;  yet  one  great  side  of  Athenian  life  has  been 
almost  ignored  —  the  religious  side.  A  "  Day  in  Athens  " 
spent  without  taking  account  of  the  gods  of  the  city  and 
their  temples  would  be  a  day  spent  with  almost  half-closed 
eyes.1 

It  is  far  easier  to  learn  how  the  Athenians  arrange  their 
houses  than  how  the  average  man  among  them  adjusts  his 
attitude  toward  the  gods.  While  any  searching  examina- 
tion of  the  fundamentals  of  Greek  cultus  and  religion  is 
here  impossible,  two  or  three  facts  must,  nevertheless,  be 
kept  in  mind,  if  we  are  to  understand  even  the  outward 
side  of  this  Greek  religion  which  is  everywhere  in  evidence 
about  us. 

First  of  all  we  observe  that  the  Greek  religion  is  a  religion 
of  purely  natural  growth.  No  prophet  has  initiated  it,  or 
claimed  a  new  revelation  to  supplement  the  older  views. 
It  has  come  from  primitive  times  without  a  visible  break 
even  down  to  the  Athens  of  Plato.  This  explains  at  once 
why  so  many  time-honored  stories  of  the  Olympic  deities 
are  very  gross,  and  why  the  gods  seem  to  give  countenance 

1  No  attempt  is  made  in  this  discussion  to  enumerate  the  various  gods 
and  demigods  of  the  conventional  mythology,  their  regular  attributes, 
etc.  It  is  assumed  the  average  history  or  manual  of  mythology  gives 
sufficient  information. 

204 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      205 

to  moral  views  which  the  best  public  opinion  has  long  since 
called  scandalous  and  criminal.  The  religion  of  Athens,  in 
other  words,  may  justly  claim  to  be  judged  by  its  best,  not 
by  its  worst ;  by  the  morality  of  Socrates,  not  of  Homer. 

Secondly,  this  religion  is  not  a  church,  nor  a  belief,  but  is 
part  of  the  government.  Every  Athenian  is  born  into  ac- 
cepting the  fact  that  Athena  Polias  is  the  divine  warder  of 
the  city,  as  much  as  he  is  born  into  accepting  the  fact  that 
it  is  his  duty  to  obey  the  strategi  in  battle.  To  repudiate 
the  gods  of  Athens,  e.g.  in  favor  of  those  of  Egypt, 
is  as  much  iniquity  as  to  join  forces  against  the  Athenians 
if  they  are  at  war  with  Egypt ;  —  the  thing  is  sheer  trea- 
son, and  almost  unthinkable.  For  countless  generations 
the  Athenians  have  worshipped  the  "  Ancestral  Gods." 
They  are  proud  of  them,  familiar  with  them ;  the  gods 
have  participated  in  all  the  prosperity  of  the  city.  Athena 
is  as  much  a  part  of  Attica  as  gray  Hymettus  or  white- 
crowned  Pentelicus  ;  and  the  very  fact  that  comedians,  like 
Aristophanes,  make  good-natured  fun  of  the  divinities  indi- 
cates that  "  they  are  members  of  the  family." 

Thirdly,  notice  that  this  religion  is  one  mainly  of  out- 
ward reverence  and  ceremony.  There  is  no  "  Athenian 
church  "  ;  nobody  has  drawn  up  an  "  Attic  creed  "  —  "I  be- 
lieve in  Athena,  the  City  Warder,  and  in  Demeter,  the  Earth 
Mother,  and  in  Zeus,  the  King  of  Heaven,  etc."  Give 
outward  reverence,  participate  in  the  great  public  sacrifices, 
be  careful  in  all  the  minutiae  of  private  worship,  refrain 
from  obvious  blasphemies  —  you  are  then  a  sufficiently  pious 
man.  What  you  believe  is  of  very  little  con  sequence.  Even 
if  you  privately  believe  there  are  no  gods  at  all,  it  harms  no 
one,  provided  your  outward  conduct  is  pious  and  moral. 

182.  What  constitutes  "Piety"  in  Athens.  — Of  course 
there  have  been  some  famous  prosecutions  for  "  impiety." 
Socrates  was  the  most  conspicuous  victim;  but  Socrates 


206  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

was  a  notable  worshipper  of  the  gods,  and  certainly  all  the 
charges  of  his  being  an  "  atheist "  broke  down.  What  he 
was  actually  attacked  with  was  "corrupting  the  youth  of 
Athens,"  i.e.  giving  the  young  men  such  warped  ideas  of 
their  private  and  public  duties  that  they  ceased  to  be  moral 
and  useful  citizens.  But  even  Socrates  was  convicted  only 
with  difficulty1;  a  generation  has  passed  since  his  death. 
Were  he  on  trial  at  present,  a  majority  of  the  jury  would 
probably  be  with  him. 

The  religion  of  Athens  is  something  very  elastic,  and  really 
every  man  makes  his  own  creed  for  himself,  or  —  for  pagan- 
ism is  almost  never  dogmatic  —  accepts  the  outward  cultus 
with  everybody  else,  and  speculates  at  his  leisure  on  the 
nature  of  the  deity.  The  great  bulk  of  the  uneducated  are 
naturally  content  to  accept  the  old  stories  and  superstitions 
with  unthinking  credulity.  It  is  enough  to  know  that  one 
must  pray  to  Zeus  for  rain,  and  to  Hermes  for  luck  in  a 
slippery  business  bargain.  There  are  a  few  philosophers 
who,  along  with  perfectly  correct  outward  observance,  teach 
privately  that  the  old  Olympian  system  is  a  snare  and  folly. 
They  pass  around  the  daring  word  which  Xenophanes 
uttered  as  early  as  the  sixth  century  B.C.:  — 

One  God  there  is,  greatest  of  gods  and  mortals, 

Not  like  to  man  is  he  in  mind  or  in  body. 

All  of  him  sees,  all  of  him  thinks,  and  all  of  him  hearkens. 

This,  of  course,  is  obvious  pantheism,  but  it  is  easy  to 
cover  up  all  kinds  of  pale  monotheism  or  pantheism  under 
vague  references  to  the  omnipotence  of  "  Zeus." 

183.  The  Average  Athenian's  Idea  of  the  Gods. — The 
average  intelligent  citizen  probably  has  views  midway  be- 

1  It  might  be  added  that  if  Socrates  had  adopted  a  really  worldly  wise 
line  of  defense,  he  would  probably  have  been  acquitted,  or  subjected  merely 
to  a  mild  pecuniary  penalty. 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      207 

tvveen  the  stupid  rabble  and  the  daring  philosophers.  To 
him  the  gods  of  Greece  stand  out  in  full  divinity,  honored 
and  worshipped  because  they  are  protectors  of  the  good, 
avengers  of  the  evil,  and  guardians  of  the  moral  law. 
They  punish  crime  and  reward  virtue,  though  the  punish- 
ment may  tarry  long.  They  demand  a  pure  heart  and  a 
holy  mind  of  all  that  approach  them,  and  woe  to  him  who 
wantonly  defies  their  eternal  laws.  This  is  the  morality 
taught  by  the  master  tragedians,  ./Eschylus  and  Sophocles, 
and  accepted  by  the  best  public  opinion  at  Athens ;  for  the 
insidious  doubts  cast  by  Euripides  upon  the  reality  of  any 
divine  scheme  of  governance  have  never  struck  home.  The 
scandalous  stories  about  the  domestic  broils  on  Olympus,  in 
which  Homer  indulges,  only  awaken  good-natured  banter. 
It  is  no  longer  proper — as  in  Homeric  days — to  pride  one- 
self on  one's  cleverness  in  perjury  and  common  falsehood. 
Athenians  do  not  have  twentieth  century  notions  about 
the  wickedness  of  lying,  but  certain  it  is  the  gods  do  not 
approve  thereof.  In  short,  most  of  the  better  class  of 
Athenians  are  genuinely  "religious";  nevertheless  they 
have  too  many  things  in  this  human  world  to  interest  them 
to  spend  overmuch  time  in  adjusting  their  personal  concepts 
of  the  deity  to  any  system  of  theology. 

184.  Most  Greeks  without  belief  in  Immortality.  —  Yet  one 
thing  we  must  add.  This  Greek  religious  morality  is  built 
up  without  any  clear  belief  in  a  future  life.  Never  has  the 
average  Hellene  been  able  to  form  a  satisfactory  conception 
of  the  soul's  existence,  save  dwelling  within  a  mortal  body 
and  under  the  glorious  light  of  beloved  Helios.  To  Homer 
the  after  life  in  Hades  was  merely  the  perpetuation  of  the 
shadows  of  departed  humanity,  "  strengthless  shades  "  who 
live  on  the  gloomy  plains  of  asphodel,  feeding  upon  dear 
memories,  and  incapable  of  keen  emotions  or  any  real  men- 
tal or  physical  progress  or  action.  Only  a  few  great  sinners 


208  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

like  Tantalus,  doomed  to  eternal  torture,  or  favored  be- 
ings like  Menelaus,  predestined  to  the  "  Blessed  Isles,"  are 
ordained  to  any  real  immortality.  As  the  centuries  ad- 
vanced, and  the  possibilities  of  this  terrestrial  world  grew 
ever  keener,  the  hope  of  any  future  state  became  ever 
more  vague.  The  fear  of  a  gloomy  shadow  life  in  Hades 
for  the  most  part  disappeared,  but  that  was  only  to  confirm 
the  belief  that  death  ends  all  things. 

Where'er  his  course  man  tends, 
Inevitable  death  impends, 
And  for  the  worst  and  for  the  best, 
Is  strewn  the  same  dark  couch  of  rest.1 

So  run  the  lines  of  a  poet  whose  name  is  forgotten,  but 
who  spoke  well  the  thought  of  his  countrymen. 

True  there  has  been  a  contradiction  of  this  gloomy  theory. 
The  "  Orphic  Mysteries,"  those  secret  religious  rites  which 
have  gained  such  a  hold  in  many  parts  of  Greece,  including 
Athens,  probably  hold  out  an  earnest  promise  to  the  "ini- 
tiates "  of  a  blessed  state  for  them  hereafter.  The  doctrine 
of  a  real  elysium  for  the  good  and  a  realm  of  torment  for 
the  evil  has  been  expounded  by  many  sages.  Pindar,  the 
great  bard  of  Thebes,  has  set  forth  the  doctrine  in  a  glowing 
ode.2  Socrates,  if  we  may  trust  the  report  Plato  gives  of 
him,  has  spent  his  last  hours  ere  drinking  the  hemlock,  in 
adducing  cogent,  philosophic  reasons  for  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  All  this  is  true,  —  and  it  is  also  true  that  these 
ideas  have  made  no  impression  upon  the  general  Greek  con- 
sciousness. They  are  accepted  half-heartedly  by  a  relatively 
few  exceptional  thinkers.  Men  go  through  life  and  face 
death  with  no  real  expectation  of  future  reward  or  punish- 
ment, or  of  reunion  with  the  dear  departed.  If  the  gods 

iMilman,  translator. 

5  Quoted  in  Readings  in  Ancient  History,  vol.  I,  pp.  261-262,  and 
in  many  works  in  Greek  literature. 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      209 

are  angry,  you  escape  them  at  the  grave ;  if  the  gods  are 
friendly,  all  they  can  give  is  wealth,  health,  honor,  a  hale 
old  age,  and  prosperity  for  your  children.  The  instant 
after  death  the  righteous  man  and  the  robber  are  equal. 
This  fundamental  deduction  from  the  Greek  religion  must 
usually,  therefore,  be  made  —  it  is  a  religion  for  this  world 
only.  Let  us  see  what  are  its  usual  outward  operations. 

185.  The  Multitude  of  Images  of  the  Gods. — Gods  are 
everywhere  in  Athens.  You  cannot  take  the  briefest  walk 
without  being  reminded  that  the  world  is  full  of  deities. 
There  is  a  "  Herm  " l  by  the  main  door  of  every  house,  as 
well  as  a  row  of  them  across  the  Agora.  At  many  of  the 
street  crossings  are  little  shrines  to  Hecate ;  or  statues  of 
Apollo  Agyieus,  the  street  guardian;  or  else  a  bay  tree 
stands  there,  a  graceful  reminder  of  this  same  god,  to  which 
it  is  sacred.  In  every  house  there  is  the  small  altar  whereon 
garlands  and  fruit  offerings  are  daily  laid  to  Zeus  Her- 
keios,  and  another  altar  to  Hestia.  On  one  or  both  of  these 
altars  a  little  food  and  a  little  wine  are  cast  at  every  meal. 
All  public  meetings  or  court  sessions  open  with  sacrifice ; 
in  short,  to  attempt  any  semi-important  public  or  private 
act  without  inviting  the  friendly  attention  of  the  deity  is 
unthinkable.  To  a  well-bred  Athenian  this  is  second  in- 
stinct ;  he  considers  it  as  inevitable  as  the  common  courtesies 
of  speech  among  gentlemen.  Plato  sums  up  the  current 
opinion  well,  "All  men  who  have  any  decency,  in  the 
attempting  of  matters  great  or  small,  always  invoke  divine 
aid."2 

»A  stone  post  about  shoulder  high,  surmounted  by  a  bearded  head. 
Contrary  to  modern  impression,  the  average  Greek  did  not  conceive  of 
Hermes  as  a  beautiful  youth.  He  was  a  grave,  bearded  man.  The  youth- 
ful aspect  came  through  the  manipulation  of  the  Hermes  myths  by  the 
master  sculptors  —  e.g.  Praxiteles. 

2  Timseus,  p.  27  c. 


210  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

186.  Greek  Superstition.  —  In  many  cases,  naturally,  piety 
runs  off  into  crass  superstition.    The  gods,  everybody  knows, 
frequently  make   known  future   events   by  various  signs. 
He  who  can  understand  these  signs  will  be  able  to  adjust 
his  life  accordingly  and  enjoy  great  prosperity.     Most  edu- 
cated men  take  a  sensible  view  of  "  omens,"  and  do  not  let 
them  influence  their  conduct  absurdly.     Some,  however,  act 
otherwise.     There  is,  for  instance,  Laches,  one  of  the  guests 
at  Prodicus's  feast.     He  lives  in  a  realm  of  mingled  hopes 
and  fears,  although  he  is  wealthy  and  well-educated.1    He 
is  all  the  time  worried  about  dreams,  and  paying  out  money 
to  the  sharp  and  wily  "seer"  (who  counts  him  his  best 
client)  for  "  interpretations."     If  a  weasel  crosses  his  path, 
he  will  not  walk  onward  until  somebody  else  has  gone  be- 
fore him,  or  until  he  has  thrown  three  stones  across  the 
road.     He  is  all  the  time  worrying  about  the  significance  of 
sudden  noises,  meteors,  thunder ;  especially  he  is  disturbed 
when  he  sees  birds  flying  in  groups  or  towards  unlucky 
quarters  of  the  heavens.2     Laches,  however,  is  not  merely 
religious  —  although  he  is  always  asking  "  which  god  shall 
I  invoke  now  ?  "  or  "  what  are  the  omens  for  the  success  of 
this  enterprise  ?  "     His  own  associates  mock  him  as  being 
superstitious,  and  say  they  never  trouble  themselves  about 
omens  save  in  real  emergencies.     Still  it  is  "  bad  luck  "  for 
any  of  them  to  stumble  over  a  threshold,  to  meet  a  hare 
suddenly,  or  especially  to  find  a  snake  (the  companion  of 
the  dead)  hidden  in  the  house. 

187.  Consulting  Omens.  —  Laches's  friends,  however,  all 
regularly  consult  the  omens  when  they  have  any  important 
enterprise  on  hand  —  a  voyage,  a  large  business  venture,  a 

1  See  Theophratus's  character,  "  The  Superstitious  Man." 
aThe  birds  of  clearest  omen  were  the  great  hirds  of  prey  —  hawks, 
"  Apollo's  swift  messengers,"  and  eagles,  "  the  birds  of  Zeus."    It  was  a 
good  omen  if  the  birds  flew  from  left  to  right,  a  bad  omen  if  in  the  reverse 
direction. 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      211 

marriage  treaty,  etc.  There  are  several  ready  ways,  not 
expensive;  the  interpreters  are  not  priests,  only  low-born 
fellows  as  a  rule,  whose  fees  are  trifling.  You  can  find  out 
about  the  future  by  casting  meal  upon  the  altar  fire  and 
noticing  how  it  is  burned,  by  watching  how  chickens  pick 
up  consecrated  grain,1  by  observing  how  the  sacrificial  smoke 
curls  upward,  etc.  The  best  way,  however,  is  to  examine 
the  entrails  of  the  victim  after  a  sacrifice.  Here  everything 
depends  on  the  shape,  size,  etc.,  of  the  various  organs,  es- 
pecially of  the  liver,  bladder,  spleen,  and  lungs,  and  really 
expert  judgment  by  an  experienced  and  high-priced  seer  is 
desirable.  The  man  who  is  assured  by  a  reliable  seer,  "  the 
livers  are  large  and  in  fine  color,"  will  go  on  his  trading 
voyage  with  a  confident  heart. 

188.  The  Great  Oracles.  —  Assuredly  there  is  a  better  way 
still  to  read  the  future ;  at  least  so  Greeks  of  earlier  ages 
have  believed.  Go  to  one  of  the  great  oracles,  whereof  that 
of  Apollo  at  Delphi  is  the  supreme,  but  not  the  unique,  ex- 
ample. Ask  your  question  in  set  form  from  the  attendant 
priests,  not  failing  to  offer  an  elaborate  sacrifice  and  to  be- 
stow all  the  "  gifts  "  (golden  tripods,  mixing  bowls,  shields, 
etc.)  your  means  will  allow.  Then  (at  Delphi)  wait  silent 
and  awe-stricken  while  the  lady  Pythia,  habited  as  a  young 
girl,  takes  her  seat  on  a  tripod  over  a  deep  cleft  in  the 
rock,  whence  issues  an  intoxicating  vapor.  She  inhales 
the  gas,  sways  to  and  fro  in  an  ecstasy,  and  now,  duly  "  in- 
spired," answers  in  a  somewhat  wild  manner  the  queries 
which  the  priest  will  put  in  behalf  of  the  suppliants.  Her 
incoherent  words  are  very  hard  to  understand,  but  the 
priest  duly  "  interprets  "  them,  i.e.  gives  them  to  the  sup- 
pliant in  the  form  of  hexameter  verses.  Sometimes  the 

1  A  very  convenient  way,  —  for  it  was  a  good  sign  if  the  chickens  ate 
eagerly  and  one  could  always  get  a  fair  omen  by  keeping  the  fowls  hungry 
a  few  hours  ere  "  putting  the  question  " ! 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


meaning  of  these  verses  is  perfectly  clear.  Very  often  they 
are  truly  "Delphic,"  with  a  most  dubious  meaning  —  as,  in 
that  oft-quoted  instance,  when  the  Pythia  told  Croesus  if  he 
went  to  war  with  Cyrus,  "he  would  destroy  a  mighty 
monarchy,"  and  lo,  he  destroyed  his  own  ! 

Besides  Delphi,  there  are  numerous  lesser  oracles,  each 
with  its  distinctive  method  of  "revelation."  But  there 
is  none,  at  least  of  consequence,  within  Attica,  while  a 
journey  to  Delphi  is  a  serious  and  highly  expensive  under- 
taking. And  as  a  matter  of  fact  Delphi  has  partially  lost 
credit  in  Athens.  In  the  great  Persian  War  Delphi  un- 
patriotically  "  medized  "  —  gave  oracles  friendly  to  Xerxes 
and  utterly  discouraging  to  the  patriot  cause.  Then  after 
this  conviction  of  false  prophesy,  the  oracle  fell,  for  most  of 
the  time,  into  the  hands  of  Sparta,  and  was  obviously  very 
willing  to  "  reveal  "  things  only  in  the  Lacedaemonian  in- 
terest. Hellenes  generally  and  the  Spartans  in  particular 
have  still  much  esteem  for  the  utterances  of  the  Pythia,  but 
Athenians  are  not  now  very  partial  to  her.  Soon  will  come 
the  seizure  of  Delphi  by  the  Phocians  and  the  still  further 
discrediting  of  this  once  great  oracle. 

189.  Greek  Sacrifices.  —  The  two  chief  elements  of  Greek 
worship,  however,  are  not  consideration  of  the  future,  but 
sacrifice  and  prayer.  Sacrifices  in  their  simple  form,  as  we 
have  seen,  take  place  continually,  before  every  routine  act. 
They  become  more  formal  when  the  proposed  action  is  really 
important,  or  when  the  suppliant  wishes  to  give  thanks  for 
some  boon,  or,  at  rarer  intervals,  to  desire  purification  from 
some  offense.  There  is  no  need  of  a  priest  for  the  simpler 
sacrifices.  The  father  of  the  family  can  pour  out  the  liba- 
tion, can  burn  the  food  upon  the  altar,  can  utter  the  prayer 
for  all  his  house;  but  in  the  greater  sacrifices  a  priest 
is  desirable,  not  as  a  sacred  intermediary  betwixt  god  and 
man,  but  as  an  expert  to  advise  the  worshipper  what  are  the 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      213 

competent  rites,  and  to  keep  him  from  ignorantly  angering 
heaven  by  unhappy  words  and  actions.1 

Let  us  witness  a  sacrifice  of  this  more  formal  kind,  and 
while  so  doing  we  can  tread  upon  the  spot  we  have  seemed 
in  a  manner  to  shun  during  our  wanderings  through  Athens, 
the  famous  and  holy  Acropolis. 

190.  The  Route  to  the  Acropolis.  —  Phormion,  son  of 
Cresphontes,  has  been  to  Arcadia,  and  won  the  pentathlon 
in  some  athletic  contests  held  at  Mantinea.  Although  not 
equal  to  a  triumph  in  the  "  four  great  Panhellenic  contests," 
it  was  a  most  notable  victory.  Before  setting  out  he  vowed 
a  sheep  to  Athena  the  Virgin  if  he  conquered.  The  goddess 
was  kind,  and  Phormion  is  very  grateful.  While  the  multi- 
tudes are  streaming  out  to  the  Gymnasia,  the  young  athlete, 
brawny  and  handsome,  surrounded  by  an  admiring  coterie 
of  friends  and  kinsmen,  sets  out  for  the  Acropolis. 

Phormion's  home  is  in  the  "Ceramicus,"  the  so-called 
"  potters'  quarter."  His  walk  takes  him  a  little  to  the  west 
of  the  Agora,  and  close  to  the  elegant  temple  of  Hephaestos,2 
but  past  this  and  many  other  fanes  he  hastens.  It  was 
not  the  fire  god  which  gave  him  fair  glory  at  Mantinea.  He 
goes  onward  until  he  is  forced  to  make  a  detour  to  the  left, 
at  the  craggy,  rough  hill  of  Areopagus  which  rises  before 
him.  Here,  if  time  did  not  press,  he  might  have  tarried 
to  pay  respectful  reverence  before  a  deep  fissure  cleft  in  the 
side  of  the  rock.  In  front  of  this  fissure  stands  a  little 
altar.  All  Phormion's  company  look  away  as  they  pass  the 
spot,  and  they  mutter  together  "Be  propitious,  0  Eumen- 
ides ! "  (literally,  Well-minded  Ones).  For  like  true  Greeks 

1  There  were  almost  no  hereditary  priesthoods  in  Attica  (outside  the 
Eumolpidae  connected  with  the  mystical  cult  of  Eleusis) .    Almost  anybody 
of  good  character  could  qualify  as  a  priest  with  due  training,  and  there 
was  little  of  the  sacrosanct  about  the  usual  priestly  office. 

2  This  temple,  now  called  the  Theseum,  is  the  only  well  preserved  an- 
cient temple  in  modern  Athens. 


214 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


they  delight  to  call  foul  things  with  fair  and  propitious 
names ;  and  that  awful  fissure  and  altar  are  sacred  to  the 
Erinyes  (Furies),  the  horrible  maidens,  the  trackers  of  guilt, 
the  avengers  of  murder ;  and  above  their  cave,  on  these  rude 


rocks,  sits  the  august  court  of  the  Areopagus  when  it  meets 
as  a  "  tribunal  of  blood  "  to  try  cases  of  homicide. 

Phormion's  party  quicken  their  steps  and  quit  this  spot 
of  ill  omen.  Then  their  sight  is  gladdened.  The  whole 
glorious  Acropolis  stands  out  before  them. 

191.  The  Acropolis  of  Athens.  —  Almost  every  Greek  city 
has  its  own  formidable  citadel,  its  own  acropolis,  —  for 
"  citadel "  is  really  all  this  word  conveys.  Corinth  boasts 
of  its  "  Acro-Corinthus,"  Thebes  of  its  "  Cadmeia,"  —  but 
the  Acropolis  is  in  Athens.  The  later  world  will  care  little 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      215 

for  any  other,  and  the  later  world  will  be  right.  The 
Athenian  stronghold  has  long  ceased  to  be  a  fortress, 
though  still  it  rises  steep  and  strong.  It  is  now  one  vast 
temple  compound,  covered  with  magnificent  buildings. 
Whether  considered  as  merely  a  natural  rock  commanding 
a  marvelous  view,  or  as  a  consecrated  museum  of  sculpture 
and  architecture,  it  deserves  its  immortality.  We  raise  our 
eyes  to  the  Rock  as  we  approach  it. 

The  Acropolis  dominates  the  plain  of  Athens.  All  the 
city  seems  to  adjust  itself  to  the  base  of  its  holy  citadel. 
It  lifts  itself  as  tawny  limestone  rock  rising  about  190 
feet  above  the  adjacent  level  of  the  town.1  In  form  it 
is  an  irregular  oval  with  its  axis  west  and  east.  It  is 
about  950  feet  long  and  450  feet  at  its  greatest  breadth. 
On  every  side  but  the  west  the  precipice  falls  away  sheer 
and  defiant,  rendering  a  feeble  garrison  able  to  battle  with 
myriads.2  To  the  westward,  however,  the  gradual  slope 
makes  a  natural  pathway  always  possible,  and  human  art 
has  long  since  shaped  this  with  convenient  steps.  Nest- 
ling in  against  the  precipice  are  various  sanctuaries  and 
caves;  e.g.  on  the  northwestern  side,  high  up  the  slope 
beneath  the  precipice,  open  the  uncanny  grottoes  of  Apollo 
and  of  Pan.  On  the  southern  side,  elose  under  the  very 
shadow  of  the  citadel,  is  the  temple  of  Asclepius,  and,  more 
to  the  southeast,  the  great  open  theater  of  Dionysus  has 
been  scooped  out  of  the  rock,  a  place  fit  to  contain  an 
audience  of  some  15,000.3 


1  It  is  nearly  510  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

2  Recall  the  defense  which   the  Acropolis  was  able  to  make  against 
Xerxes's  horde,  when  the  garrison  was  small  and  probably  ill  organized, 
and  had  only  a  wooden  barricade  to  eke  out  the  natural  defenses. 

*The  stone  seats  of  this  theater  do  not  seem  to  have  been  built  till 
about  340  B.C.  Up  to  that  time  the  surface  of  the  ground  sloping  back 
to  the  Acropolis  seems  simply  to  have  been  smoothed  off,  and  probably 
covered  with  temporary  wooden  seats  on  the  days  of  the  great  dramatic 
festivals. 


216  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

So  much  for  the  bare  "  bones  "  of  the  Acropolis ;  but  now 
under  the  dazzling  sunshine  how  it  glitters  with  indescrib- 
able splendor !  Before  us  as  we  ascend  a  whole  succession  of 
buildings  seem  lifting  themselves,  not  singly,  not  in  hope- 
less confusion,  but  grouped  admirably  together  by  a  kind 
of  wizardry,  so  that  the  harmony  is  perfect,  —  each  visible, 
brilliant  column  and  pinnacle,  not  merely  flashing  its 
own  beauty,  but  suggesting  another  greater  beauty  just 
behind. 

192.  The  Use  of  Color  upon  Athenian  Architecture  and 
Sculptures.  —  While  we  look  upward  at  this  group  of 
temples  and  their  wealth  of  sculpture,  let  us  state  now  some- 
thing we  have  noticed  during  all  our  walks  around  Athens, 
but  have  hitherto  left  without  comment.  Every  temple  and 
statue  in  Athens  is  not  left  in  its  bare  white  marble,  as 
later  ages  will  conceive  is  demanded  by  "  Greek  architec- 
ture" and  statuary,  but  is  decked  in  brilliant  color  — 
"  painted,"  if  you  will  use  an  almost  unfriendly  word.  The 
columns  and  gables  and  ceilings  of  the  buildings  are  all 
painted.  Blue,  red,  green,  and  gold  blaze  on  all  the  members 
and  ornaments.  The  backgrounds  of  the  pediments, 
metopes,  and  frieze  are  tinted  some  uniform  color  on  which 
the  sculptured  figures  in  relief  stand  out  clearly.  The 
figures  themselves  are  tinted  or  painted,  at  least  on  the  hair, 
lips,  and  eyes.  Flesh-colored  warriors  are  fighting  upon  a 
bright  red  background.  The  armor  and  horse  trappings  on 
the  sculptures  are  in  actual  bronze.  The  result  is  an  effect 
indescribably  vivid.  Blues  and  reds  predominate :  the 
flush  of  light  and  color  from  the  still  more  brilliant  heavens 
above  adds  to  the  effect.  Shall  we  call  it  garish?  We 
have  learned  to  know  the  taste  of  Athenians  too  well  to 
doubt  their  judgment  in  matters  of  pure  beauty.  And  they 
are  right.  Under  an  Athenian  sky  temples  and  statues 
almost  demand  a  wealth  of  color  which  in  a  somber  clime 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      217 

would  seem  intolerable.  The  brilliant  lines  of  the  Acropo- 
lis buildings  are  the  just  answer  of  the  Athenian  to  the 
brilliancy  of  Helios. 

193.   The  Chief  Buildings  on  the  Acropolis.  —  And  now  to 

ascend  the  Acropolis.  We  leave  the  discussion  of  the  de- 
tails of  the  temples  and  the  sculpture  to  the  architects  and 
archaeologists.  The  whole  plateau  of  the  Rock  is  covered 
with  religious  buildings,  altars,  statues.  We  pass  through 
the  Propylaea,  the  worthy  rival  of  the  Parthenon  behind, 
a  magnificent  portal,  with  six  splendid  Doric  columns  facing 
us ;  and  as  we  go  through  them,  to  right  and  to  left  open 
out  equally  magnificent  columned  porticoes.1  As  we  emerge 
from  the  Propylaea  the  whole  vision  of  the  sacred  plateau 
bursts  upon  us  simultaneously.  We  can  notice  only  the 
most  important  of  the  buildings.  At  the  southwestern 
point  of  the  Acropolis  on  the  angle  of  rock  which  juts  out 
beyond  the  Propylaea  is  the  graceful  little  temple  of  the 
"  Wingless  Victory,"  built  in  the  Ionic  style.  The  view 
commanded  by  its  bastion  will  become  famous  throughout 
the  world.  Behind  this,  nearer  the  southern  side,  stands 
the  less  important  temple  of  Artemis  Brauronia.  Nearer 
the  center  and  directly  before  the  entrance  rises  a  colossal 
brazen  statue  —  "  monstrous,"  many  might  call  its  twenty- 
six  feet  of  height,  save  that  a  master  among  masters  has 
cast  the  spell  of  his  genius  over  it.  This  is  the  famous 
Athena  Promachos,2  wrought  by  Phidias  out  of  the  spoils  of 
Marathon.  The  warrior  goddess  stands  in  full  armor  and 
rests  upon  her  mighty  lance.  The  gilded  lance  tip  gleams 
so  dazzlingly  we  may  well  believe  the  tale  that  sailors  use 
it  for  a  first  landmark  as  they  sail  up  the  coast  from  Cape 
Sunium. 

1  That  to  the  north  was  the  larger  and  contained  a  kind  of  picture 
gallery. 

2  Athena  Foremost  in  Battle. 


218  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

Looking  again  upon  the  complex  of  buildings  we  single 
out  another  on  the  northern  side :  an  irregularly  shaped 
temple,  or  rather  several  temples  joined  together,  the  Erech- 
theum,  wherein  is  the  sanctuary  of  Athena  Polias  (the 
revered  "City  Warden"),  the  ancient  wooden  statue,  gro- 
tesque, beloved,  most  sacred  of  all  the  holy  images  in 
Athens.  And  here  on  the  southern  side  of  this  building  is 
the  famous  Caryatid  porch;  the  "Porch  of  the  Maidens," 
which  will  be  admired  as  long  as  Athens  has  a  name.  But 
our  eyes  refuse  to  linger  long  on  any  of  these  things.  Be- 
hind the  statue  of  the  Promachos,  a  little  to  the  southern 
side  of  the  plateau,  stands  the  Parthenon  —  the  queen  jewel 
upon  the  crown  of  Athens. 

194.  The  Parthenon. — Let  others  analyze  its  sculptures  and 
explain  the  technical  reasons  why  Ictinus  and  Callicrates, 
the  architects,  and  Phidias,  the  sculptor,  created  here  the 
supreme  masterpiece  for  the  artistic  world.  We  can  state 
only  the  superficialities.  It  is  a  noble  building  by  mere 
size ;  228  feet  measure  its  side,  101  feet  its  front.  Forty-six 
majestic  Doric  columns  surround  it;  they  average  thirty- 
four  feet  in  height,  and  six  feet  three  inches  at  the  base. 
All  these  facts,  however,  do  not  give  the  soul  of  the  Par- 
thenon. Walk  around  it  slowly,  tenderly,  lovingly.  Study 
the  elaborate  stories  told  by  the  pediments,  —  on  the  east 
front  the  birth  of  Athena,  on  the  west  the  strife  of  Athena 
and  Poseidon  for  the  possession  of  Athens.  Trace  down 
the  innumerable  lesser  sculptures  on  the  "  metopes  "  under 
the  cornice,  —  showing  the  battles  of  the  Giants,  Centaurs, 
Amazons,  and  of  the  Greeks  before  Troy;  finally  follow 
around,  on  the  whole  inner  circuit  of  the  body  of  the  temple, 
the  frieze,1  showing  in  bas-relief  the  Panathenaic  procession, 
with  the  beauty,  nobility,  and  youth  of  Athens  marching  in 

1  This,  of  course,  is  on  the  outside  wall  of  the  "  cella,"  but  inside  the 
surrounding  colonnade. 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      219 

glad  festival;  comprehend  that  these  sculptures  will 
never  be  surpassed  in  the  twenty-four  succeeding  cen- 
turies ;  that  here  are  supreme  examples  for  the  artists  of 
all  time,  —  and  then,  in  the  face  of  this  final  creation,  we 
can  realize  that  the  Parthenon  will  justify  its  claim  to  im- 
mortality. 

One  thing  more.  There  are  hardly  any  straight  lines  in 
the  Parthenon.  To  the  eye,  the  members  and  the  steps  of 
the  substructure  may  seem  perfectly  level ;  but  the  measuring 
rod  betrays  marvelously  subtle  curves.  As  nature  abhors 
right  angles  in  her  creations  of  beauty,  so  have  these  Greeks. 
Kigidity,  unnaturalness,  have  been  banished.  The  Par- 
thenon stands,  not  merely  embellished  with  inimitable 
sculptures,  but  perfectly  adjusted  to  the  natural  world 
surrounding.1 

We  have  seen  only  the  exterior  of  the  Parthenon.  We 
must  wait  now  ere  visiting  the  interior,  for  Phormion  is 
beginning  his  sacrifice. 

195.  A  Sacrifice  on  the  Acropolis.  —  Across  the  sacred 
plateau  advances  the  little  party.  As  it  goes  under  the 
Propylaea  a  couple  of  idle  temple  watchers 2  give  its  mem- 
bers a  friendly  nod.  The  Acropolis  rock  itself  seems 
deserted,  save  for  a  few  worshippers  and  a  party  of  admir- 
ing Achaean  visitors  who  are  being  shown  the  glories  of  the 
Parthenon.3  There  seems  to  be  a  perfect  labyrinth  of 
statues  of  gods,  heroes,  and  departed  worthies,  and  almost 
as  many  altars,  great  and  small,  placed  in  every  direction. 

1  It  was  an  inability  to  discover  and  execute  these  concealed  curves 
which  give  certain  of  the  older  modern  imitations  of  the  Parthenon  their 
unpleasant  impressions  of  hardness  and  rigidity. 

2  The  most  important  function  of  these  watchers  seems  to  have  been  to 
prevent  dogs  from  entering  the  Acropolis.    Probably  they  were  inefficient 
old  men  favored  with  sinecure  offices. 

8  The  Acropolis  seems  to  have  become  a  great  "  show  place  "  for  visitors 
to  Athens  soon  after  the  completion  of  the  famous  temples. 


220  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

Phormion  leads  his  friends  onward  till  they  come  near  to 
the  wide  stone  platform  somewhat  in  the  rear  of  the  Par- 
thenon. Here  is  the  "  great  altar  "  of  Athena,  whereon  the 
"hecatombs"  will  be  sacrificed,  even  a  hundred  oxen  or 
more,1  at  some  of  the  major  public  festivals ;  and  close 
beside  it  stands  also  a  small  and  simple  altar  sacred  to 
Athena  Parthenos,  Athena  the  Virgin.  Suitable  attendants 
have  been  in  readiness  since  dawn  waiting  for  worshippers. 
One  of  Phormion's  party  leads  behind  him  a  bleating  white 
lamb  "without  blemish."2  It  is  a  short  matter  now  to 
bring  the  firewood  and  the  other  necessaries.  The  sacrifice 
takes  place  without  delay. 

First  a  busy  "temple  sweeper"  goes  over  the  ground 
around  the  altar  with  a  broom ;  then  the  regular  priest,  a 
dignified  gray-headed  man  with  a  long  ungirt  purple  chiton, 
and  a  heavy  olive  garland,  comes  forward  bearing  a  basin 
of  holy  water.  This  basin  is  duly  passed  to  the  whole 
company  as  it  stands  in  a  ring,  and  each  in  turn  dips 
his  hand  and  sprinkles  his  face  and  clothes  with  the 
lustral  water.  Meantime  the  attendant  has  placed  another 
wreath  around  the  head  of  the  lamb.  The  priest  raises  his 
hand. 

"Let  there  be  silence,"  he  commands  (lest  any  unlucky 
word  be  spoken);  and  in  a  stillness  broken  only  by  the 
auspicious  twittering  of  the  sparrows  amid  the  Parthenon 
gables,  he  takes  barley  corns  from  a  basket,  and  sprinkles 
them  on  the  altar  and  over  the  lamb.  With  his  sacred  knife 
he  cuts  a  lock  of  hair  from  the  victim's  head  and  casts  it  on 

1  We  know  by  an  inscription  of  169  oxen  being  needed  for  a  single 
Athenian  festival. 

2  This  was  a  very  proper  creature  to  sacrifice  to  a  great  Olympian  deity 
like  Athena.    Goats  were  not  suitable  for  her,  although  desirable  for  most 
of  the  other  gods.    It  was  unlawful  to  sacrifice  swine  to  Aphrodite.    When 
propitiating  the  gods  of  the  underworld,  — Hades,  Persephone,  etc.,  — a 
black  victim  was  in  order.    Poor  people  could  sacrifice  doves,  cocks,  and 
other  birds. 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens 


the  fire.  Promptly  now  the  helper  comes  forward  to  com- 
plete the  sacrifice.  Phormion  and  his  friends  are  a  little 
anxious.  Will  the  lamb  take  fright,  hang  back,  and  have 
to  be  dragged  to  its  unwilling  death  ?  The  clever  attendant 
has  cared  for  that.  A  sweet  truss  of  dried  clover  is  lying 
just  under  the  altar.  The  lamb  starts  forward,  bleating  joy- 
ously. As  it  bows  its  head1  as  if  consenting  to  its  fate, 
the  priest  stabs  it  dexterously  in  the  neck  with  his  keen 
blade.  The  helper 
claps  a  bowl  under 
the  neck  to  catch  the 
spurting  blood.  A 
flute  player  in  readi- 
ness, but  hitherto 
silent,  suddenly 
strikes  up  a  keen 
blast  to  drown  the 
dying  moans  of  the 
animal.  Hardly  has 
the  lamb  ceased  to 
struggle  before  the 
priest  and  the  helper 
have  begun  to  cut 
it  up  then  and  there.  SACRIFICING  A  PIG. 

Certain  bits  of  the 

fat  and  small  pieces  from  each  limb  are  laid  upon  the  altar, 
and  promptly  consumed.  These  are  the  goddess's  peculiar 
portion,  and  the  credulous  at  least  believe  that  she,  though 
unseen,  is  present  to  eat  thereof ;  certainly  the  sniff  of  the 
burning  meat  is  grateful  to  her  divine  nostrils.  The  priest 
and  the  helper  are  busy  taking  off  the  hide  and  securing  the 
best  joint  —  these  are  their  "fees  "  for  professional  services. 
All  the  rest  will  be  duly  gathered  up  by  Phormion's  body 

1  If  a  larger  animal  —  an  ox  —  failed  to  bow  its  head  auspiciously,  the 
omen  could  be  rectified  by  suddenly  splashing  a  little  water  in  the  ears. 


222  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

servant  and  borne  home,  —  for  Phormion  will  give  a  fine 
feast  on  "  sacred  mutton  "  that  night.1 

Meantime,  while  the  goddess's  portion  burns,  Phormion 
approaches  the  altar,  bearing  a  shallow  cup  of  unmixed  wine, 
and  flings  it  upon  the  flame. 

"  Be  propitious,  0  Lady,"  he  cries,  "  and  receive  this  my 
drink  offering." 2 

The  sacrifice  is  now  completed.  The  priest  assures 
Phormion  that  the  entrails  of  the  victim  foretokened  every 
possible  favor  in  future  athletic  contests  —  and  this,  and  his 
insinuating  smile,  win  him  a  silver  drachma  to  supplement 
his  share  of  the  lamb.  Phormion  readjusts  the  chaplet  upon 
his  own  head,  and  turns  towards  the  Parthenon.  After  the 
sacrifice  will  come  the  prayer. 


196.  The  Interior  of  the  Parthenon  and  the  Great  Image  of 
Athena.  —  The  whole  Acropolis  is  the  home  of  Athena.  The 
other  gods  harbored  thereon  are  only  her  inferior  guests. 
Upon  the  Acropolis  the  dread  goddess  displays  her  many 
aspects.  In  the  Erechtheum  we  worship  her  as  Athena 
Polias,  the  ancient  guardian  of  the  hearths  and  homes  of 
the  city.  In  the  giant  Promachos,  we  see  her  the  leader  in 
war,  —  the  awful  queen  who  went  with  her  fosterlings  to 
the  deadly  grappling  at  Marathon  and  at  Salamis ;  in  the 
little  temple  of  "  Wingless  Victory  " 3  we  see  her  as  Athena 
the  Victorious,  triumphant  over  Barbarian  and  Hellenic  foe ; 
but  in  the  Parthenon  we  adore  her  in  her  purest  conception  — 

1  As  already  suggested  (page  180)  a  sacrifice  (public,  or,  if  on  a  large 
scale,  private)  was  about  the  only  occasion  on  which  Athenians  tasted 
beef,  pork,  or  mutton. 

2  The  original  intention  of  this  libation  at  the  sacrifice  was  very  clearly 
to  provide  the  gods  with  wine  to  "  wash  down  "  their  meat. 

•The  term  "Wingless  Victory"  (Nike  Apteros)  has  reference  to  a 
special  type  and  aspect  of  Athena,  not  to  the  goddess  Nike  (Victory)  pure 
and  simple. 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens 


the  virgin  queen,  now  chaste  and  calm,  her  battles  over,  the 

pure,  high  incarnation  of  all  "  the  beautiful  and  the  good " 

that  may  possess   spirit  and 

mind,  —  the  sovran   intellect, 

in  short,  purged  of  all  carnal, 

earthy   passion.      It  is   meet 

that  such    a  goddess   should 

inhabit  such  a  dwelling  as  the 

Parthenon.1 

Phormion  passes  under  the 
eastern  porch,  and  does  not 
forget  (despite  the  purification 
before  the  sacrifice)  to  dip  the 
whisk  broom,  lying  by  the 
door,  in  the  brazen  laver  of 
holy  water  and  again  to  sprin- 
kle himself.  He  passes  out 
of  the  dazzling  sunlight  into 
a  chamber  that  seems  at  first 
to  be  lost  in  a  vast,  impene- 
trable gloom.  He  pauses  and 
gazes  upward ;  above  him,  as 
little  by  little  his  eyes  get 
their  adjustment,  a  faint  pearly 
light  seems  streaming  down- 
ward. It  is  coming  through 
the  translucent  marble  slabs 
of  the  roof  of  the  great  tem- 
ple.2 Then  out  of  the  gloom 
gleam  shapes,  objects,  —  a 


ATHENA  PARTHENOS. 
"Varvakeion  Model"  of  the 
great  Athena  of  Phidias. 


1  There  was  still  another  aspect  in  which  Athena  was  worshipped  on  the 
Acropolis.    She  had  a  sacred  place  (temenos),  though  without  a  temple, 
sacred  to  her  as  Athena  Ergane  —  Athena  Protectress  of  the  Arts. 

2  This  seems  to  be  the  most  reasonable  way  to  assume  that  the  cella  of 
the  Parthenon  was  lighted,  in  view  of  the  danger,  in  case  of  open  skylights, 
of  damage  to  the  holy  image  by  wind  and  rain. 


224  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

face.  He  catches  the  glitter  of  great  jewels  and  of  massy 
gold,  as  parts  of  the  rich  garments  and  armor  of  some  vast 
image.  He  distinguishes  at  length  a  statue,  —  the  form  of 
a  woman,  nearly  forty  feet  in  height.  Her  left  hand  rests 
upon  a  mighty  shield;  her  right  hand  holds  a  winged  "Vic- 
tory," itself  of  nigh  human  size.  Upon  her  breast  is  the 
awful  aegis,  the  especial  breastplate  of  the  high  gods. 
Around  the  foot  of  her  shield  coils  a  serpent.  Upon  her 
head  is  a  mighty  helmet.  And  all  the  time  that  these  things 
are  becoming  manifest,  evermore  clearly  one  beholds  the  ma- 
jestic face,  —  sweetness  without  weakness,  intellectuality 
without  coldness,  strength  mingled  justly  with  compassion. 
This  is  the  Athena  Parthenos,  the  handiwork  of  Phidias.1 

We  will  not  heap  up  description.  What  boots  it  to  tell 
that  the  arms  and  vesture  of  this  "chryselephantine  "  statue 
are  of  pure  gold ;  that  the  flesh  portions  are  of  gleaming 
ivory ;  that  Phidias  has  wrought  the  whole  so  nobly  together 
that  this  material,  too  sumptuous  for  common  artists,  becomes 
under  his  assembling  the  perfect  substance  for  the  manifes- 
tation of  deity  ? 

.  .  .  Awestruck  by  the  vision,  though  often  he  has  seen  it, 
Phormion  stands  long  in  reverent  silence.  Then  at  length, 
casting  a  pinch  of  incense  upon  the  brazier,  constantly 
smoking  before  the  statue,  he  utters  his  simple  prayer. 

197.  Greek  Prayers.  • —  Greek  prayers  are  usually  very 
pragmatic.  "Who,"  asks  Cicero,  who  can  speak  for  both 
Greeks  and  Romans  in  this  particular,  "  ever  thanked  the 
gods  that  he  was  a  good  man?  Men  are  thankful  for  riches, 

1  Of  this  statue  no  doubt  there  could  be  said  what  Dion  Chrysostomos 
said  of  the  equally  famous  " Zeus "  erected  by  Phidias  at Olympia.  "The 
man  most  depressed  with  woes,  forgot  his  ills  whilst  gazing  on  the  statue, 
so  much  light  and  beauty  had  Phidias  infused  within  it."  Besides  the 
descriptions  in  the  ancient  writers  we  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  general  type 
of  the  Athena  Parthenos  from  recently  discovered  statuettes,  especially 
the  "  Varvakeion  "  model  (40$  inches  high).  This  last  is  cold  and  lifeless 
as  a  work  of  art,  but  fairly  accurate  as  to  details. 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      225 

honor,  safety.  .  .  .  We  beg  of  the  sovran  God  [only]  what 
makes  us  safe,  sound,  rich  and  prosperous." *  Phormion  is 
simply  a  very  average,  healthy,  handsome  young  Athenian. 
While  he  prays  he  stretches  his  hands  on  high,  as  is  fitting 
to  a  deity  of  Olympus.2  His  petition  runs  much  as  follows :  — 

"Athena,  Queen  of  the  JSgis,  by  whatever  name  thou 
lovest  best,3  give  ear. 

"  Inasmuch  as  thou  dids't  heed  my  vow,  and  grant  me 
fair  glory  at  Mantinea,  bear  witness  I  have  been  not  un- 
grateful. I  have  offered  to  thee  a  white  sheep,  spotless  and 
undefined.  And  now  I  have  it  in  my  mind  to  attempt  the 
pentathlon  at  the  next  Isthmia  at  Corinth.  Grant  me  vic- 
tory even  in  that ;  and  not  one  sheep  but  five,  all  as  good 
as  this  to-day,  shall  srnoke  upon  thine  altar.  Grant  also 
unto  me,  my  kinsmen  and  all  my  friends,  health,  riches  and 
fair  renown." 

A  pagan  prayer  surely ;  and  there  is  a  still  more  pagan 
epilogue.  Phormion  has  an  enemy,  who  is  not  forgotten. 

"And  oh!  gracious,  sovran  Athena,  blast  my  enemy 
Xenon,  who  strove  to  trip  me  foully  in  the  foot  race.  May 
his  wife  be  childless  or  bear  him  only  monsters ;  may  his 
whole  house  perish  ;  may  all  his  wealth  take  flight ;  may  his 
friends  forsake  him  ;  may  war  soon  cut  him  off,  or  may  he 
die  amid  impoverished,  dishonored  old  age.  If  this  my 
sacrifice  has  found  favor  in  thy  sight,  may  all  these  evils 
come  upon  him  unceasingly.  And  so  will  I  adore  thee  and 
sacrifice  unto  thee  all  my  life."  * 

1  Cicero,  De  Nat.  Deor.  ii.  36. 

2  In  praying  to  a  deity  of  the  lower  world  the  hands  would  be  held  down. 
A  Greek  almost  never  knelt,  even  in  prayer.    He  would  have  counted  it 
degrading. 

8  This  formula  would  be  put  in,  lest  some  favorite  epithet  of  the  divinity 
be  omitted. 

4  Of  ten  a  curse  would  become  a  real  substitute  for  a  prayer;  e.g.  at 
Athens,  against  a  rascally  and  traitorous  general,  a  solemn  public  curse 
would  be  pronounced  at  evening  by  all  the  priests  and  priestesses  of  the 


226  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

The  curse  then  is  a  most  proper  part  of  a  Greek  prayer ! 
Phormion  is  not  conscious  of  blasphemy.  He  merely  fol- 
lows invariable  custom. 

It  is  useless  to  expect  "  Christian  sentiments  "  in  the 
fourth  century  B.C.,  yet  perhaps  an  age  should  be  judged, 
not  by  its  average,  but  by  its  best.  Athenians  can  utter 
nobler  prayers  than  those  of  the  type  of  Phormion.  Xeno- 
phon  makes  his  model  young  householder  Ischomenus  pray 
nobly  "  that  I  may  enjoy  health  and  strength  of  body,  the 
respect  of  my  fellow  citizens,  honorable  safety  in  times  of 
war,  and  wealth  honestly  increased." l 

There  is  a  simple  little  prayer  also  which  seems  to  be  a 
favorite  with  the  farmers.  Its  honest  directness  carries 
its  own  message. 

"  Rain,  rain,  dear  Zeus,  upon  the  fields  of  the  Athenians 
and  the  plains."2 

Higher  still  ascends  the  prayer  of  Socrates,  when  he  begs 
for  "  the  good  "  merely,  leaving  it  to  the  wise  gods  to  deter- 
mine what  "  the  good  "  for  him  may  be ;  and  in  one  prayer, 
which  Plato  puts  in  Socrates's  mouth,  almost  all  the  best  of 
Greek  ideals  and  morality  seems  uttered.  It  is  spoken  not 
on  the  Acropolis,  but  beside  the  Ilissus  at  the  close  of  the 
delightful  walk  and  chat  related  in  the  Phcedrus. 

"  Beloved  Pan,  and  all  ye  other  gods  who  haunt  this 
place,  give  me  the  beauty  of  the  inward  soul,  and  may  the 
outward  and  the  inward  man  be  joined  in  perfect  harmony. 
May  I  reckon  the  wise  to  be  wealthy,  and  may  I  have  such 
a  quantity  of  gold  as  none  but  the  temperate  can  carry. 
Anything  more?  —  That  prayer,  I  think,  is  enough  for 
me." 

city,  each  shaking  in  the  air  a  red  cloth  in  token  of  the  bloody  death  to 
which  the  offender  was  devoted. 

1Xenophon,  The  Economist,  xi,  p.  8. 

2  It  was  quoted  later  to  us  by  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  adds, 
"In  truth,  we  ought  not  to  pray  at  all,  or  we  ought  to  pray  in  this 
simple  and  noble  fashion." 


The  Temples  and  Gods  of  Athens      227 

Phormion  and  his  party  are  descending  to  the  city  to 
spend  the  evening  in  honest  mirth  and  feasting,  but  we 
are  fain  to  linger,  watching  the  slow  course  of  the  shadows 
as  they  stretch  across  the  Attic  hills.  Sea,  sky,  plain, 
mountains,  and  city  are  all  before  us,  but  we  will  not  spend 
words  upon  them  now.  Only  for  the  buildings,  wrought 
by  Pericles  and  his  mighty  peers,  we  will  speak  out  our 
admiration.  We  will  gladly  confirm  the  words  Plutarch 
shall  some  day  say  of  them,  "  Unimpaired  by  time,  their 
appearance  retains  the  fragrance  of  freshness,  as  though 
they  had  been  inspired  by  an  eternally  blooming  life  and 
a  never  aging  soul." * 

1  Plutarch  wrote  this  probably  after  100  A.D.,  when  the  Parthenon  had 
stood  for  about  five  and  a  half  centuries. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  GREAT  FESTIVALS  OF  ATHENS. 

198.  The  Frequent  Festivals  at  Athens.  —  Surely  our  "  Day 
in  Athens"  has  been  spent   from  morn  till   night  several 
times  over,  so  much  there  is  to  see  and  tell.     Yet  he  would 
be  remiss  who  left  the  city  of  Athena  before  witnessing  at 
least  several  of  the  great  public  festivals  which   are   the 
city's  noble  pride.     There  are  a  prodigious  number  of  re- 
ligious festivals  in  Athens.1     They  take  the  place  of  the 
later  "  Christian  Sabbath  "  and  probably  create  a  somewhat 
equal  number  of  rest  days   during   the  year,  although   at 
more  irregular  intervals.     They  are  far  from  being  "  Scotch 
Sundays,"  however.     Oh  them  the  semi-riotous  "joy  of  life" 
which  is  part  of  the  Greek  nature  finds  its  fullest,  ofttimes 
its   wildest,  expression.      They   are    days   of    merriment, 
athletic    sports,    great    civic    spectacles,    chorals,    public 
dances.2     To  complete  our  picture  of  Athens  we  must  tarry 
for  a  swift  cursory  glance  upon  at  least  three  of  these  f§te 
days  of  the  city  of  Pericles,  Sophocles,  and  Phidias. 

199.  The  Eleusinia.  —  Our  first  festival  is  the  Eleusinia, 
the  festival  of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.     It  is  September, 
the  "  19th  of  Boedromion,"  the  Athenians  will  say.     Four 

i  In  Gulick  (Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks,  pp.  304-310)  there  is  a  valuable 
list  of  Attic  festivals.  The  Athenians  had  over  thirty  important  religious 
festivals,  several  of  them,  e.g.,  the  Thesmorphoria  (celebrated  by  the 
women  in  honor  of  Demeter),  extending  over  a  number  of  days. 

3  It  is  needless  to  point  out  that  to  the  Greeks,  as  to  many  other  ancient 
peoples, —for   example,  the  Hebrews,  — dancing  often    had  a  religious 
significance  and  might  be  a  regular  part  of  the  worship  of  the  gods. 
228 


The  Great  Festivals  of  Athens         229 

days  have  been  spent  by  the  "  initiates "  and  the  "  candi- 
dates "  in  symbolic  sacrifices  and  purifications.1  On  one  of 
these  days  the  arch  priest,  the  "  Hierophant,"  has  preached 
a  manner  of  sermon  at  the  Painted  Porch  in  the  Agora 
setting  forth  the  awfulriess  and  spiritual  efficacy  of  these 
Mysteries,  sacred  to  Demeter  the  Earth  Mother,  to  her 
daughter  Persephone,  and  also  to  the  young  lacchus,  one  of 
the  many  incarnations  of  Dionysus,  and  who  is  always 
associated  at  Eleusis  with  the  divine  "  Mother  and  Daugh- 
ter." The  great  cry  has  gone  forth  to  the  Initiates  —  "  To 
the  Sea,  ye  Mystae  1 "  and  the  whole  vast  multitude  has  gone 
down  to  bathe  in  the  purifying  brine. 

Now  on  this  fifth  day  comes  the  sacred  procession  from 
Athens  across  the  mountain  pass  to  Eleusis.  The  partici- 
pants, by  thousands,  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ages,  are 
drawn  up  in  the  Agora  ere  starting.  The  Hierophant,  the 
"  Torchbearer,"  the  "  Sacred  Herald,"  and  the  other  priests 
wear  long  flowing  raiment  and  high  mitres  like  Orientals. 
They  also,  as  well  as  the  company,  wear  myrtle  and  ivy 
chaplets  and  bear  ears  of  corn  and  reapers'  sickles.  The 
holy  image  of  lacchus  is  borne  in  a  car,  the  high  priests 
marching  beside  it ;  and  forth  with  pealing  shout  and  chant 
they  go,  —  down  the  Ceramicus,  through  the  Dipylon  gate, 
and  over  the  hill  to  Eleusis,  twelve  miles  away. 

200.  The  Holy  Procession  to  Eleusis.  —  Very  sacred  is  the 
procession,  but  not  silent  and  reverential.  It  is  an  hour 
when  the  untamed  animal  spirits  of  the  Greeks,  who  after 
all  are  a  young  race  and  who  are  gripped  fast  by  natural 
instinct,  seem  uncurbed.  Loud  rings  the  "  orgiastic "  cry, 
"lacche!  lacche!  evoe!" 

1  Not  all  Athenians  were  among  the  "initiated,"  but  it  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  hard  to  be  admitted  to  the  oaths  and  examination  which 
gave  one  participation  in  the  mysteries.  About  all  a  candidate  had 
to  prove  was  blameless  character.  Women  could  be  initiated  as  well 
as  men. 


230  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

There  are  wild  shouts,  dances,  jests,  songs,1  postures.  As 
the  marchers  pass  the  several  sanctuaries  along  the  road 
there  are  halts  for  symbolic  sacrifices.  So  the  multitude 
slowly  mounts  the  long  heights  of  Mount  ^Egaleos,  until  — 
close  to  the  temple  of  Aphrodite  near  the  summit  of  the 
pass  —  the  view  opens  of  the  broad  blue  bay  of  Eleusis,  shut 
in  by  the  isle  of  Salamis,  while  to  the  northward  are  seen 
the  green  Thrasian  plain,  with  the  white  houses  of  Eleusis 
town2  near  the  center,  and  the  long  line  of  outer  hills 
stretching  away  to  Megara  and  Boeotia. 

The  evening  shadows  are  falling,  while  the  peaceful  army 
sweeps  over  the  mountain  wall  and  into  Eleusis.  Every 
marcher  produces  a  torch,  and  bears  it  blazing  aloft  as  he 
nears  his  destination.  Seen  in  the  dark  from  Eleusis,  the 
long  procession  of  innumerable  torches  must  convey  an 
effect  most  magical. 

201.  The  Mysteries  of  Eleusis.  —  What  follows  at  Eleusis  ? 
The  "  mysteries "  are  "  mysteries  "  still ;  we  cannot  claim 
initiation  and  reveal  them.  There  seem  to  be  manifold 
sacrifices  of  a  symbolic  significance,  the  tasting  of  sacred 
"portions"  of  food  and  drink  —  a  dim  foreshadowing  of 
the  Christian  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist ;  especially  in  the 
great  hall  of  the  Temple  of  the  Mystae  in  Eleusis  there 
take  place  a  manner  of  symbolic  spectacles,  dramas  perhaps 
one  may  call  them,  revealing  the  origin  of  lacchus,  the 
mystical  union  of  Persephone  and  Zeus,  and  the  final  joy 
of  Demeter. 

This  certainly  we  can  say  of  these  ceremonies.  They 
seem  to  have  afforded  to  spiritually  minded  men  a  sense  of 

JWe  do  not  possess  the  official  chant  of  the  Mystae  used  on  their 
march  to  Eleusis.  Very  possibly  it  was  of  a  swift  riotous  nature  like  the 
Bacchinals'  song  in  Euripides's  Bacchinals  (well  translated  by  Way  or 
by  Murray). 

'This  was  about  the  only  considerable  town  in  Attica  outside  of 
Athens. 


The  Great  Festivals  of  Athens         231 

remission  of  personal  sin  which  the  regular  religion  could 
never  give ;  they  seem  also  to  have  conveyed  a  fair  hope  of 
immortality,  such  as  most  Greeks  doubted.  Sophocles  tells 
thus  the  story :  "  Thrice  blessed  are  they  who  behold  these 
mystic  rites,  ere  passing  to  Hades'  realm.  They  alone  have 
life  there.  For  the  rest  all  things  below  are  evil."  1  And  in 
face  of  imminent  death,  perhaps  in  hours  of  shipwreck, 
men  are  wont  to  ask  one  another,  "  Have  you  been  initiated 
at  Eleusis  ?  " 

202.  The  Greater  Dionysia  and  the  Drama.  —  Again  we  are 
in  Athens  in  the  springtime :  "  The  eleventh  of  Elaphe- 
bolion"  [March].  It  is  the  third  day  of  the  Greater 
Dionysia.  The  city  has  been  in  high  festival;  all  the 
booths  in  the  Agora  hum  with  redoubled  life;  strangers 
have  flocked  in  from  outlying  parts  of  Hellas  to  trade, 
admire,  and  recreate ;  under  pretext  of  honoring  the  wine 
god,  inordinate  quantities  of  wine  are  drunk  with  less  than 
the  prudent  mixture  of  water.  There  is  boisterous  frolick- 
ing, singing,  and  jesting  everywhere.  It  is  early  blossom 
time.  All  whom  you  meet  wear  huge  flower  crowns,  and 
pelt  you  with  the  fragrant  petals  of  spring.2 

So  for  two  days  the  city  has  made  merry,  and  now  on 
the  third,  very  early,  "to  the  theater"  is  the  word  on 
every  lip.  Magistrates  in  their  purple  robes  of  office,  am- 
bassadors from  foreign  states,  the  priests  and  religious 
dignitaries,  are  all  going  to  the  front  seats  of  honor. 
Ladies  of  gentle  family,  carefully  veiled  but  eager  and 
fluttering,  are  going  with  their  maids,  if  the  productions 

1  Sophocles,  Frag.  719. 

2  Pindar  (Frag.  75)  says  thus  of  the  joy  and  beauty  of  this  fgte :  "  [Lo  !] 
*,his  festival  is  due  when  the  chamber  of  the  red-robed  Hours  is  opened 
and  odorous  plants  wake  to  the  fragrant  spring.    Then  we  scatter  on 
undying  earth  the  violet,  like  lovely  tresses,  and  twine  roses  in  our  hair ; 
then  sounds  the  voice  of  song,  the  flute  keeps  time,  and  dancing  choirs 
resound  the  praise  of  Semele." 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


of  the  day  are  to  be  tragedies  not  comedies.1  All  the 
citizens  are  going,  rich  and  poor,  for  here  again  we  meet 
"  Athenian  democracy  "  ;  and  the  judgment  and  interest  of 
the  tatter-clad  fishermen  seeking  the  general  "two-obol" 
seats  may  be  almost  as  correct  and  keen  as  that  of  the 
lordly  Alcmseonid  in  his  gala  himation. 

203.  The  Theater  of  Dionysus.  —  Early  dawn  it  is  when 
the  crowds  pour  through  the  barriers  around  the  Theater  of 
Dionysus  upon  the  southern  slope  of  the  Acropolis.  They 
sit  (full  15,000  or  more)  wedged  close  together  upon  rough 
wooden  benches  set  upon  the  hill  slopes.2  At  the  foot  of 
their  wide  semicircle  is  a  circular  space  of  ground,  beaten 
hard,  and  ringed  by  a  low  stone  barrier.  It  is  some  ninety 
feet  in  diameter.  This  is  the  orchestra,  the  "  dancing  place," 
wherein  the  chorus  may  disport  itself  and  execute  its 
elaborate  figures.  Behind  the  orchestra  stretches  a  kind  of 
tent  or  booth,  the  skene.  Within  this  the  actors  may  retire 
to  change  their  costumes,  and  the  side  nearest  to  the  audi- 
ence is  provided  with  a  very  simple  scene,  —  some  kind  of 
elementary  scenery  painted  to  represent  the  front  of  a 
temple  or  palace,  or  the  rocks,  or  the  open  country.  This  is 
nearly  the  entire  setting.3  If  there  are  any  slight  changes 
of  this  screen,  they  must  be  made  in  the  sight  of  the  entire 
audience.  The  Athenian  theater  has  the  blue  dome  of  heaven 
above  it,  the  red  Acropolis  rock  behind  it.  Beyond  the 

1  It  seems  probable  (on  our  uncertain  information)  that  Athenian 
ladies  attended  the  moral  and  proper  tragedies.  It  was  impossible  for 
them  to  attend  the  often  very  coarse  comedies.  Possibly  at  the  tragedies 
they  sat  in  a  special  and  decently  secluded  part  of  the  theater. 

8  These  benches  (before  the  stone  theater  was  built  in  340  B.C.)  may  be 
imagined  as  set  up  much  like  the  "  bleachers  "  at  a  modern  baseball  park. 
We  know  that  ancient  audiences  wedged  in  very  close. 

8  I  think  it  is  fairly  certain  that  the  classical  Attic  theater  was  without 
any  stage,  and  that  the  actors  appeared  on  the  same  level  as  the  chorus. 
As  to  the  extreme  simplicity  of  all  the  scenery  and  properties  there  is  not 
the  least  doubt. 


The  Great  Festivals  of  Athens         233 

skene  one  can  look  far  away  to  the  country  and  the  hills. 
The  keen  Attic  imagination  will  take  the  place  of  the  thou- 
sand arts  of  the  later  stage-setter.  Sophocles  and  his  rivals, 
even  as  Shakespeare  in  Elizabeth's  England,  can  sound  the 
very  depths  and  scale  the  loftiest  heights  of  human  passion, 
with  only  a  simulacrum  of  the  scenery,  properties,  and  me- 


COMIC  ACTORS  DRESSED  AS  OSTRICHES. 

chanical  artifices  which  will  trick  out  a  very  mean  twentieth 
century  theater. 

204.  The  Production  of  a  Play.  — The  crowds  are  hushed 
and  expectant.  The  herald,  ere  the  play  begins,  proclaims 
the  award  of  a  golden  crown  to  some  civic  benefactor :  a  mo- 
ment of  ineffable  joy  to  the  recipient ;  for  when  is  a  true 
Greek  happier  than  when  held  xip  for  public  glorification  ? 
Then  comes  the  summons  to  the  first  competing  poet. 

"  Lead  on  your  chorus." l  The  intellectual  feast  of  the 
Dionysia  has  begun. 

To  analyze  the  Attic  drama  is  the  task  of  the  philosopher 
and  the  literary  expert.  We  observe  only  the  superficiali- 
ties. There  are  never  more  than  three  speaking  actors  be- 

iln  the  fourth  century  B.C.  when  the  creation  of  original  tragedies  was 
in  decline,  a  considerable  part  of  the  Dionysia  productions  seem  to  have 
been  devoted  to  the  works  of  the  earlier  masters,  ^Eschylus,  Sophocles, 
and  Euripides. 


234 


A  Day  in  Old  Athens 


fore    the  audience  at  once.     They  wear    huge  masques, 

shaped  to  fit  their  parts.  The  wide  mouthpieces  make  the 
trained  elocution  carry  to  the  most 
remote  parts  of  the  theater.  The 
actors  wear  long  trailing  robes  and 
are  mounted  on  high  shoes  to  give 
them  sufficient  stature  before  the 
distant  audience.  When  a  new  part 
is  needed  in  the  play,  an  actor  re- 
tires into  the  booth,  and  soon  comes 
forth  with  a  changed  masque  and 
costume  —  an  entirely  new  charac- 
ter. In  such  a  costume  and  masque, 
play  of  feature  and  easy  gesture  is 
impossible ;  but  the  actors  carry 
themselves  with  a  stately  dignity 
and  recite  their  often  ponderous 
lines  with  a  grace  which  redeems 
them  from  all  bombast.  An  essen- 
tial part  of  the  play  is  the  chorus ; 
indeed  the  chorus  was  once  the  main 
feature  of  the  drama,  the  actors 
insignificant  innovations.  With 
fifteen  members  for  the  tragedy, 
twenty-four  for  the  comedy,1  old  men 
of  Thebes,  Trojan  dames,  Athenian 
charcoal  burners,  as  the  case  may 
demand  —  they  sympathize  with  the 
hard-pressed  hero,  sing  lusty  choral 

odes,  and    occupy  the  time  with  song  and  dance  while  the 

actors  are  changing  costume. 

The  audience  follows  all  the  philosophic  reasoning  of  the 


ACTOR  IN  COSTUME  AS  A 
FURY. 


1  In  the  "  Middle  "  and  "  Later  "  comedy,  so  called,  the  chorus  entirely 
disappears.    The  actors  do  everything. 


The  Great  Festivals  of  Athens         235 

tragedies,  the  often  subtle  wit  of  the  comedies,  with  that 
same  shrewd  alertness  displayed  at  the  jury  courts  of  the 
Pnyx.  "  Authis !  Authis ! "  (again!  again!)  is  the  frequent 
shout,  if  approving.  Date  stones  and  pebbles  as  well  as 
hootings  are  the  reward  of  silly  lines  or  bad  acting.  At 
noon  there  is  an  interlude  to  snatch  a  hasty  luncheon  (per- 
haps without  leaving  one's  seat).  Only  when  the  evening 
shadows  are  falling  does  the  chorus  of  the  last  play 
approach  the  altar  in  the  center  of  the  orchestra  for  the 
final  sacrifice.  A  whole  round  of  tragedies  have  been 
given.1  The  five  public  judges  announce  their  decision: 
an  ivy  wreath  to  the  victorious  poet ;  to  his  cfwregus  (the 
rich  man  who  has  provided  his  chorus  and  who  shares  his 
glory)  the  right  to  set  up  a  monument  in  honor  of  the 
victory.  Home  goes  the  multitude,  —  to  quarrel  over  the 
result,  to  praise  or  blame  the  acting,  to  analyze  with 
remarkable  acuteness  the  poet's  handling  of  religious,  ethi- 
cal, or  social  questions. 

The  theater,  like  the  dicasteries  and  the  Pnyx,  is  one  of 
the  great  public  schools  of  Athens. 

205.  The  Great  Panathenaic  Procession.  —  Then  for  the 
last  time  let  us  visit  Athens,  at  the  f§te  which  in  its  major 
form  comes  only  once  in  four  years.  It  is  the  28th  of 
Metageitnion  (August),  and  the  eighth  day  of  the  Greater 
Panathenaea,  the  most  notable  of  all  Athenian  festivals. 
By  it  is  celebrated  the  union  of  all  Attica  by  Theseus,  as 
one  happy  united  country  under  the  benign  sway  of  mighty 
Athena,  —  an  ever  fortunate  union,  which  saved  the  land 
from  the  sorrowful  feuds  of  hostile  hamlets  such  as  have 
plagued  so  many  Hellenic  countries.  On  the  earlier  days 
of  the  feast  there  have  been  musical  contests  and  gymnastic 
games  much  after  the  manner  of  the  Olympic  games, 

1  Comedies,  although  given  at  this  Dionysia,  were  more  especially  fa- 
vored at  the  Lensea,  an  earlier  winter  festival. 


236  A  Day  in  Old  Athens 

although  the  contestants  have  been  drawn  from  Attica  only. 
There  has  been  a  public  recital  of  Homer.  Before  a  great 
audience  probably  at  the  Pnyx  or  the  Theater  a  rhapsodist 
of  noble  presence  —  clad  in  purple  and  with  a  golden  crown 
—  has  made  the  Trojan  War  live  again,  as  with  his  well- 
trained  voice  he  held  the  multitude  spellbound  by  the  music 
of  the  stately  hexameters. 

Now  we  are  at  the  eighth  day.  All  Athens  will  march  in 
its  glory  to  the  Acropolis,  to  bear  to  the  shrine  of  Athena 
the  sacred  "  peplos  " — a  robe  specially  woven  by  the  noble 
women  of  Athens  to  adorn  the  image  of  the  guardian  god- 
dess.1 The  houses  have  opened;  the  wives,  maids,  and 
mothers  of  gentle  family  have  come  forth  to  march  in  the 
procession,  all  elegantly  wreathed  and  clad  in  their  best, 
bearing  the  sacred  vessels  and  other  proper  offerings.  The 
daughter  of  the  "  metics,"  the  resident  foreigners,  go  as 
attendants  of  honor  with  them.  The  young  men  and  the 
old,  the  priests,  the  civil  magistrates,  the  generals,  all  have 
their  places.  Proudest  of  all  are  the  wealthy  and  high-born 
youths  of  the  cavalry,  who  now  dash  to  and  fro  in  their 
clattering  pride.  The  procession  is  formed  in  the  outer 
Ceramicus.  Amid  cheers,  chants,  chorals,  and  incense  smoke 
it  sweeps  through  the  Agora,  and  slowly  mounts  the  Acrop- 
olis. Center  of  all  the  marchers  is  the  glittering  peplos, 
raised  like  a  sail  upon  a  wheeled  barge  of  state  —  "  the  ship 
of  Athena."  Upon  the  Acropolis,  while  the  old  peplos  is 
piously  withdrawn  from  the  image  and  the  new  one  sub- 
stituted, there  is  a  prodigious  sacrifice.  A  mighty  flame 
roars  heavenward  from  the  "  great  altar  " ;  while  enough 
bullocks  and  kine  have  been  slaughtered  to  enable  every 
citizen  —  however  poor — to  bear  away  a  goodly  mess  of 
roasted  meat  that  night. 


1  Note  that  this  robe  was  for  the  revered  ancient  and  wooden  image  of 
Athena  Polias,  not  for  the  far  less  venerable  statue  of  Athena  Parthenos. 


The  Great  Festivals  of  Athens         237 

206.    The  View  from  the  Temple  of  Wingless  Victory. — We 

will  not  wait  for  the  feasting  but  rather  will  take  our  way  to 
the  Temple  of  Wingless  Victory,  looking  forth  to  the  west  of 
the  Acropolis  Rock.  So  many  things  we  see  which  we  would 
fain  print  on  the  memory.  Behind  us  we  have  just  left  the 
glittering  Parthenon,  and  the  less  august  but  hardly  less 
beautiful  Erechtheum,  with  its  "Porch  of  the  Maidens." 
To  our  right  is  the  wide  expanse  of  the  roofs  of  the  city 
and  beyond  the  dark  olive  groves  of  Colonus,  and  the 
slopes  of  ^Egaleos.  In  the  near  foreground,  are  the  red 
crags  of  Areopagus  and  the  gray  hill  of  the  Pnyx.  But 
the  eye  will  wander  farther.  It  is  led  away  across  the 
plainland  to  the  bay  of  Phaleron,  the  castellated  hill  of 
Munychia,  the  thin  stretch  of  blue  water  and  the  brown 
island  seen  across  it  —  Salamis  and  its  strait  of  the  victory. 
Across  the  sparkling  vista  of  the  sea  rise  the  headlands  of 
^Egina  and  of  lesser  isles  ;  farther  yet  rise  the  lordly  peaks 
of  Argolis.  Or  we  can  look  to  the  southward.  Our  gaze 
runs  down  the  mountainous  Attic  coast  full  thirty  miles  to 
where  Sunium  thrusts  out  its  haughty  cape  into  the  Mgean 
and  points  the  way  across  the  island-studded  sea. 

Evening  is  creeping  on.  Behind  us  sounds  the  great 
paean,  the  solemn  chant  to  Athena,  bestower  of  good  to 
men.  As  the  sun  goes  down  over  the  distant  Argolic  hills 
his  rays  spread  a  clear  pathway  of  gold  across  the  waters. 
Islands,  seas,  mountains  far  and  near,  are  touched  now  with 
shifting  hues,  —  saffron,  violet,  and  rose,  —  beryl,  topaz, 
sapphire,  amethyst.  There  will  never  be  another  landscape 
like  unto  this  in  all  the  world.  Gladly  we  sum  up  our 
thoughts  in  the  cry  of  a  son  of  Athens,  Aristophanes,  mas- 
ter of  song,  who  loved  her  with  that  love  which  the  land  of 
Athena  can  ever  inspire  in  all  its  children,  whether  its  own 
by  adoption  or  by  birth  :  — 

"  Oh,  thou,  our  Athens  I  Violet-crowned,  brilliant,  most  en- 
viable of  cities  I " 


INDEX 


References  are  to  pages. 


Academy,  159;    social  types   at, 

160. 

Acropolis  of  Athens,  7, 213,214, 217. 
Actors,  in  theater,  233-235. 
Agora,     buildings     around,     16  ; 

crowds  at,  18  ;  shops  in,  19  ;  visi- 
tors to,  21,  23. 

Agriculture,  in  Attica,  196  ff. 
Areopagus,  hill  of,  213. 
Aristocracy,  burdens  of,  147. 
Armor,  105. 
Arms  of  soldier,  107. 
Army,  organization  of,  102. 
Arsenal,  naval,  at  Peiraeus,  125. 
Artemis,  shrine  to  the  rustic,  203. 
Athena,  Promachos,  217  ;    Parthe- 

nos,  223. 
Athens,  importance,  1  ;  social  life, 

1  ;  topography,  6  ;  beauty,  8. 
Athletes,  167  ff.  ;  highly  honored, 

172. 

Attendants,  on  the  street,  26. 
Attica,  small  size,  2  ;   sterility,  3  ; 

beauty   of    physical    setting,    4  ; 

mountains  of,  5  ;  sunlight  in,  5. 

Bankers,  95  ;  their  establishments, 
96  ;  business  methods,  97. 

Barber  shops,  24. 

Battle  (Greek),  preliminaries  to, 
109  ;  course  of,  110;  climax  of, 
112. 

Beauty,  youthful,  seen  at  gym- 
nasia, 162  ;  admired  by  Greeks, 
163  ;  moral  and  physical,  consid- 
ered united,  165. 

Birth,  of  children,  59. 

Bread,  176. 

Burial  truce,  114. 

Burials  (see  Funerals). 


Cattle  raising:,  201. 

Cavalry,  104. 

Children,  desirability  of,  67;  ex- 
posure of,  57 ;  celebration  of  birth, 
59 ;  games  for,  59 ;  stories  and  les- 
sons for,  61. 

Chiton,  45. 

Chlamys,  46. 

City  slaves,  56. 

Colonus,  suburb,  159. 

Color,  used  on  Athenian  architec- 
ture, 217. 

Commerce,  importance  of,  91;  in 
Athens,  93. 

Contests,  athletic,  167. 

Conversation,  at  symposium,  187. 

Cooks,  professional,  182. 

Costume,  Greek,  43,48;  women's, 
46. 

Country  life,  191  ff . ;  enjoyed  by 
Athenians,  194;  some  features  of, 
195. 

Courts  of  law,  138-144. 

Crew  of  warships,  131. 

Dandies,  at  the  Agora,  24. 

Dead,  honors  paid  to  them,  88. 

Death  penalty,  145. 

Delphic  Oracle,  211. 

Democracy,  in  Athens,  147, 148. 

Dicasts  (jurors),  139. 

Diet,  176. 

Dinner  parties,  175  ff. ;  society  de- 
sired at,  175,  181;  preparing  for, 
182;  customs  at,  184;  the  sympo- 
sium after,  185. 

Dionysia  festival,  The  Greater, 
231. 

Dionysiac  Theater,  232. 

Dirge  singers,  86. 


240 


Index 


References  are  to  pages. 


Drama,  231-235. 

Dress,  Greek,  43;  of  women,  46; 
beauty  of,  49. 

Ecclesia,  147  ff. ;  meeting  times  of, 

150;  method  of  assembling,  151; 

preliminaries  to  the  meeting,  152 ; 

debate  in,  154 ;  voting  in,  155 ;  as 

an  educational  institution,  156. 
Education,  of  girls,  62;   of  boys, 

63 ;  in  schools,  66 ;  curriculum,  67 ; 

without    foreign    languages,    70; 

part  of  "  music  "in,  70. 
Eleusinian  festival,  228-231. 
Ephebi,  75. 
Erechtheum,  217. 
Eumenides,  cave  of,  213. 
Exile,  penalty  of,  145. 
Exports  of  Athens,  94. 
Exposure  of  infants,  57. 

Farmhouses,  in  Attica,  196. 

Farming1,  importance  of,  191 ;  pre- 
ferred by  Athenians,  194. 

Festivals,  in  Athens,  228. 

Fish,  as  diet,  180;  vendors  of,  20. 

Flowers,  sale  of,  20. 

Food,  staples  of,  176. 

Foot  races,  170. 

Foreign  trade  of  Athens,  94. 

Fountains,  in  streets,  11. 

Funeral,  preliminaries  to,  84 ;  pro- 
cessions, 86;  pyre  at,  87;  monu- 
ments, 89. 

Furniture,  32. 

Games,  of  children,  59;  at  ban- 
quets, 188. 

Gardens,  202. 

Gates,  of  Athens,  11. 

Girls,  education  of,  62. 

Goat  raising,  201,  202. 

Gods,  average  Athenian  view  of, 
205,  206;  numerous  images  of, 


Grinding,  at  the  mill,  199. 

Guests,  at  a  dinner  party,  181, 
183. 

Gymnasia,  158 ff.;  as  social  centers, 
160;  frequented  by  philosophers, 
161,  by  beautiful  youths,  162. 

Gymnastics,  taught  in  schools,  73. 

Hair  dressing,  49. 

Harbors,  of  Athens,  118,  124 ;  war 

harbors,  124. 
Healing  shrines,  78. 
Himation,  45. 
Hoplites,  103. 
House  fronts,  on  Athenian  streets, 

12,  13. 
Houses,  type  of,  27;  uses  of,  27; 

plan  of,  28;  rooms  of,  29,  30,  31; 

small,  31;  cost  of,  32;  furnishings 

of,  32. 

Ilissus,  walks  beside,  191  ff . 
Immortality  of  soul,  doubted  by 

most  Greeks,  207. 
Imports  of  Athens,  94. 
Industries,  in  Athens,  92. 
Infantry,  tactics,  108. 
Infants,  exposure  of,  57. 

Javelin  casting.  150. 

Jurymen    (dicasts)   in  Athens, 

138 ;  their  oaths,  139 ;  their  faults 

and  virtues,  144. 

Lamentations,  for  the  dead,  85. 
Languages,  not  studied  in  schools, 

70. 

Leaping  contests,  167. 
Leisure  at  Athens,  24. 
Leisured  class  at  Athens,  22. 
Life,  very  simple,  in  Athens,  14,  15; 

in  the  Agora,  21. 
Literacy  in  Athens,  63. 
Litigation,  135 ;  how  begun,  136. 
Long  Walls  to  Peireeus,  118. 


Index 


241 


References  are  to  pages. 


Maneuvers,  of  soldiers,  108. 

Manufactures  in  Athens,  91. 

Market  Place  (see  Agora) . 

Marriages,  how  arranged,  35 ;  with- 
out romance,  36 ;  rites  in,  37. 

Masters  and  slaves,  55. 

Meal-times,  174. 

Meat,  as  diet,  180. 

Medical  charlatans,  82. 

Medical  science,  origins  of,  77. 

Merchant  ships,  120. 

Merchant  skippers,  95. 

Military  life  in  Athens,  101. 

Mills  upon  farms,  199. 

Money  changers,  95. 

Monuments,  funeral,  89. 

Morning  crowds  entering  Athens, 
9. 

Mountains  of  Attica,  5. 

Munychia,  118. 

Music,  studied  in  schools,  70 ;  moral 
influence  of,  72. 

Mysteries  of  Bleusis,  230. 

Naval  arsenal,  125. 

Naval  strength  of  Athens,  134. 

Naval  tactics,  133. 

Oath,  of  physicians,  80;  of  jury- 
men, 139. 

Oil,  olive,  177. 

Old  Age ;  detested  by  Greeks,  165. 

Olives,  sacred,  195;  orchards  of, 
199. 

Omens,  210. 

Oracles,  211 ;  of  healing,  78. 

Panatheneea,  235-237. 
Pancration,  167. 
Panoply,  of  hoplite,  105. 
Parthenon,  217,  218;   interior  of, 

222. 

Peasants  going  to  market,  10. 
Pedagogues,  64. 


Peirreus,  road  to,  117;    town  of, 

119,  120. 
Peltasts,  104. 
Penalties,  legal,  144. 
Pentathlon,  172. 
Philosophers  at  gymnasia,  161. 
Physicians,    79;    their   oath,    80; 

their  skill,  81. 

Piety,  among  Athenians,  205. 
Play,  of  children  in  streets,  60. 
Plowing,  197. 
Pnyx,  151. 

Poets,  studied  in  schools,  68. 
Porticoes,  at  Agora,  17. 
Pottery,    always   elegant,    33;    of 

Athens,  98;   expression  of  Greek 

genius,  99. 
Prayers,  224. 
Procession,  at  Panathenaea,  236; 

at  funeral,  86. 

Professional  Athletes,  167. 
Propylsea,  217. 
Prosecutions,  legal,  136. 
Pyre,  funeral,  87. 

Quacks,  medical,  82. 
Quoit  hurling,  168. 

Racing,  on  foot,  169. 

Bam,  of  warship,  129,  130. 

Reaping,  198. 

Religion,  in  Athens,  204  ff. 

Revelers,  midnight,  189. 

Roads,  to  Athens,   9;    to  Colonu* 

and  the  Academy,  158. 
Rowers,  of  trireme,  129. 

Sacrifices,  212,  219-221. 
Salutations.  23. 
Sandals,  47. 

Schoolboys,  habits  of,  74. 
Schools,  65  ff. ;  curriculum  in,  66; 

poets  studied  in,  68;  gymnastics 

in,  73. 


242 


Index 


References  are  to  pages. 


Sheep  raising:,  201. 

Ship  houses,  124. 

Ships,  merchant,  122;  war,  126; 
crew  of,  131. 

Shops,  in  Agora,  19,  20. 

Shrine,  to  Artemis,  203. 

Siege  warfare,  114. 

Simplicity  of  Athenian  life,  14. 

Slaves,  part  of  Greek  life,  51 ;  trade 
in,  52;  price  of,  53;  treatment  of, 
54;  masters  of,  55;  public,  56. 

Society,  truly  democratic  in 
Athens,  148;  desired  at  dinner 
parties,  175. 

Socrates,  at  Agora,  24 ;  his  physi- 
cal ugliness,  166. 

Soldiers,  infantry,  103;  cavalry, 
104. 

Sports,  gymnastic,  166. 

Stories  for  children,  61. 

Stelae,  funeral,  89. 

Stose,  17. 

Street  scenes,  10-12. 

Streets,  of  Athens,  12;  their 
squalor,  13 ;  in  better  quarters,  26. 

Sunlight  of  Attica,  5. 

Superstition,  210. 

Symposium,  185  ff. 

Tactics,  in  battle,  109-113;  innova- 
tions in,  115;  naval,  133. 

Testimony,  in  courts,  137. 

Theater,  232. 

Threshing:,  198. 

Toilet,  frivolities  of,  49. 

Topography  of  Athens,  6. 

Trade,  in  slaves,  52;  in  foreign 
wares.  94. 


Traders  going  to  market,  10. 

Training  of  girls,  62. 

Trials,  court,  135  ff . ;  preliminaries 
to,  137;  speeches  in,  140-142;  ver- 
dicts in,  142-143. 

Trierarch,  125. 

Trireme,  126;  at  sea,  132;  in  battle, 
133. 

Trophy,  after  battle,  114. 

Truce,  for  burial  after  battle,  114. 

Vegetables,  179. 
View  from  Acropolis,  237. 
Vineyards,  201. 
Voters  in  Ecclesia,  149. 
Voting:  in  Ecclesia,  155. 

"Wailing:  for  the  dead,  86. 

Walls,  "Long  Walls"  to  Peiraeus, 
117. 

Warships,  126. 

Wealth,  burdens  of,  147. 

Weapons,  107. 

Wills,  84. 

Wingrless  Victory,  view  from 
Temple  of,  237. 

Women,  unconsulted  in  marriage, 
36;  with  narrow  mental  horizon, 
38;  honor  paid  to,  39;  employ- 
ment of,  40 ;  too  much  ignored  in 
Athens,  41. 

Wrestling:,  169. 

Youths  (Ephebi),  in  Athens,  75; 
seen  at  gymnasia,  162;  admired 
for  their  beauty,  163. 


Zea,  harbor  of,  119. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGlONAi  I  IRDAQV  CA^M  <-r^ 
in    i   ii    ii    M    i.  ,.r. ---'<  FACILITY 


A    000003313    4 


